The hotel on the outskirts of town looks a lot like lodging one can find on any American highway. Over the years, it has been a Holiday Inn and a Days Inn. The sign outside now bears the brand of a new, growing chain—one that promises a lot more than a good night’s sleep. At the Tesla Wellness Hotel and Medbed Center in Butler, about 45 minutes north of Pittsburgh, the enticements are nothing short of miraculous.

Part motel, part new-age clinic, the Tesla facility offers nightly rentals in rooms that come equipped with “BioHealers”—canisters that the company claims exude “life force energy,” or biophotons. Testimonials from the company’s patients speak to the devices’ power to, they claim, treat cancer, dementia, chronic pain and a long list of other ailments.

This is just one of many businesses exploiting skepticism toward conventional medicine. Skepticism has grown due to high healthcare costs, a lack of empathy, medical malpractice and profit-driven motives in the healthcare industry. Unfortunately, this distrust in mainstream medicine has also led to an increase in medical conspiracy theories.

NPR reported, “Half of Americans subscribe to medical conspiracy theories, with more than one-third of people thinking that the Food and Drug Administration is deliberately keeping natural cures for cancer off the market because of pressure from drug companies, a survey finds. Twenty percent of people said that cellphones cause cancer—and that large corporations are keeping health officials from doing anything about it. And another 20 percent think doctors and the government want to vaccinate children despite knowing that vaccines cause autism.”

Medical conspiracies take advantage of gaps in scientific knowledge and society’s moral and ethical vulnerabilities. Turning to the Bible, we can see darker motives at play—greed, deceit and sheer desperation. This understanding can point people to much better solutions rooted in patience, hard work and wisdom.

The Cost of False Hope

Besides brick-and-mortar locations, Tesla also sells canisters for home use. Prices start at $599 and go up to $11,000 for the largest model. There are slightly cheaper versions available for pets and children. The cost of these unproven products rivals that of many accepted medical treatments, underlining the public’s hefty healthcare financial burden.

Just do not call the thousands of people who have shelled out big bucks to Tesla “patients.” The company’s creator does not like the term—perhaps the first clue that what he is selling is well beyond the bounds of traditional medicine.

“We are not a clinic, not a doctor’s office,” said the founder, who earned a medical degree in China and a Ph.D. in human nutrition at Penn State University. “For me, for the company, I always call them customers.”

Various companies jack up the prices of products that have not been proven to work, exploiting desperation to make a quick buck. I Timothy 6:10 explains why: “The love of money is the root of all evil.” When companies prioritize profits over what is helpful or scientifically sound for their customers, they fuel this cycle of deceit.

Companies motivated by money often sell customers false hope. This practice shakes faith in conventional medicine by setting unrealistic expectations and adds more problems for people who are already struggling.

Too Good to Be True

Tesla BioHealing, which has no connection to the car company, is part of a growing industry that markets unproven cures and treatments to conspiracy theorists and others who have grown distrustful of science and medicine. Experts who study such claims say they are on the increase, thanks to the internet, social media and skepticism about traditional health care.

In our information-rich era, it is surprising yet true that people can be easily misled. Jeremiah 17:9 says that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” This scripture is a powerful reminder of just how easy it is for us to fool ourselves, or get fooled, especially when it comes to something as critical as our health. The promise of a miraculous fix is like a fog, clouding our judgment, making it all too easy to fall for those too good to be true unscientific cures. And it really hits home for those grappling with serious health issues. They are at the front line, vulnerable to those trying to sell them a miracle.

“There have always been hucksters selling medical cures, but I do feel like it’s accelerating,” said Timothy Caulfield, a health policy and law professor at the University of Alberta who studies medical ethics and fraud. “There are some forces driving that: obviously the internet and social media, and distrust of traditional medicine, traditional science. Conspiracy theories are creating and feeding this distrust.”

Blending the high-tech jargon of Western science with the spiritual terminology of traditional and Eastern medicine, these modern salesmen claim their treatments can reverse aging, restore mental acuity or fight COVID-19 better than a vaccine. They promise better health, but what they are really selling is the idea of insider information, the promise of a secret known only to the wealthy and the powerful.

So-called medbeds are one of the flashiest, most expensive and least credible. “Medbeds are coming,” exclaimed a woman in one popular TikTok video. Similar videos have been seen millions of times on the platform.

According to conspiracy theorists, medbeds were developed by the military (in some versions, using alien technology) and are already in use by the world’s richest and most powerful families. Whole message boards on Telegram are devoted to discussions about medbeds, and the latest rumors about when and where they will arrive.

“I’m desperately seeking any help from all to answer my prayers to a cure for my son’s cancer,” wrote one woman on another Telegram channel created by medbed conspiracy theorists in New Jersey.

Ignorance and Desperation

Sellers of these “miracle cures” are primarily responsible, but those who buy them are not entirely off the hook. In Hosea 4:6, God says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...” When people do not know enough, they can get desperate and end up chasing after things that have not been proven to work. I Thessalonians 5:21 tells us to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” While this primarily applies to spiritual matters, the principle can also be used for health. Each person is responsible for his or her wellbeing, including proving whether a cure is the real deal.

Not proving what we hear can open the door to misinformation and being taken advantage of. This is not just about wasting money or feeling betrayed, it can actually be dangerous for a person’s health. The Bible stresses the importance of using knowledge to avoid the perils of ignorance and encourages seeking wisdom to protect against deceitful practices.

For those desperate waiting for medbeds to arrive, Tesla BioHealers may be a tempting alternative, though one that comes with a cost. A one-night stay in a “highly-energized” room at the Tesla complex in Butler runs for $300. The rooms look like any other motel room, although a look beneath the bed reveals several of the biohealers placed underneath. The company runs seven other medbed centers in other states, and its devices are used at several other “partner” facilities operated by other businesses.

Inside the canisters? A mix of “fine naturally active stones and activated fine metal, grout, sands and proprietary polymers that are manufactured with a special technology,” according to the company.

In addition to the BioHealers, the company also sells bottled water—24-packs of 16.9-ounce bottles of Tennessee spring water—for $150. The company says the water has been imbued with “life force energy” that can increase energy and libido, improve breathing, digestion and sleep, reduce pain and lead to “vivid dreams to indicate enhanced brain activity.”

At Walmart, a 24-pack of 16.9-ounce generic brand water bottles retails for less than $4.

Reading the Fine Print

Deceivers in the medical field seriously harm public health when they lead people away from proven medical advice. Dishonesty is not just bad for our health system, it is also deeply displeasing to God. The Bible states, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov. 12:22). Promoting false claims undermines trust in legitimate healthcare.

Online testimonials from Tesla’s customers speak to the life-changing power of the company’s products, with gushing superlatives such as “It worked miracles!” But experts and scientists who have studied the company’s claims say there is no scientific evidence to support them. Tesla acknowledges the facts in its terms of service: “Tesla BioHealing does not provide any medical advice,” the fine print says. “Our products…are not intended to replace your physicians’ care, diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or medical condition.”

Sadly, many people do not take the time to read or carefully consider the finer details. Instead, they seek quick fixes, leaving them vulnerable to being taken advantage of.

This tendency is also addressed in Scripture: “The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone that is hasty only to want” (Prov. 21:5). This essentially says that those who take their time and are diligent in their actions tend to succeed, while those who rush and cut corners tend to end up wanting more. Quick-fix health solutions may be enticing, but they often result in disappointment, leading to more trouble and expense down the line.

Tesla’s leader told The Associated Press that he was unfamiliar with the medbed conspiracy theory when he named his company and that he is not trying to exploit gullible people who want to believe medbeds are real. He said 40,000 people have used his devices so far, and that he believes the canisters can treat about 80 percent of all disease.

Medical Quackery

Given the importance of health, it is hardly surprising that medical claims and products that seem too good to be true have a long history in America. More than a century ago, hucksters peddled magic elixirs from wagons. Decades later, electricity sparked a brief craze in electric belts and magnet suits as a supposed cure for anxiety, paralysis or sexual problems. In the 1920s, a quack named John Brinkley became a household name by implanting goat testicles into the bodies of patients complaining of infertility and impotence. He later lost his medical license after he was exposed as a fraud.

In the 1970s and 1980s, the back pages of magazines were filled with ads for mail-order diet pills and supplements that made promises not backed up by the facts. Today, the same claims are made online, where they have found a niche audience among conspiracy theorists and others who distrust science and traditional medicine. “Shop Now!” reads the website of an infamous conspiracy theorist who, despite legal troubles, has a daily broadcast and sells supplements and vitamins alongside survival gear and emergency food rations.

These online communities were thriving long before the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw an explosion of false claims about vaccines, communicable diseases and even basic medical science. And as adherents’ suspicion of traditional medicine, the media and the government has grown, more people are willing to put their faith in untested treatments and claims.

The Food and Drug Administration maintains an online database of unproven or harmful treatments that it has identified, including unapproved treatments for COVID-19 that contain harmful chemicals, autism “cures” that include raw camel milk and the ingestion of dangerous heavy metals, and medications that supposedly cure all cancer.

“Distrust of government and distrust of major institutions makes people vulnerable,” said Stephen Barrett, a psychiatrist and expert in unverified medical claims who launched the organization Quackwatch in the 1970s to highlight medical scams. “But there are other factors too: Some people are desperate for help and they don’t know what to believe.”

Healthcare fraud is big business, and it was the largest source of civil fines and penalties for fraud paid to the federal government last year—more than $5 billion. Most investigations and prosecutions focused on schemes to defraud public health programs such as Medicaid and Medicare or the billions of dollars set aside for COVID-19. As a result, low-level hucksters often do not get as much attention.

Galatians 5:19-21 talks about these and other negative human behaviors, calling them “the works of the flesh.” Understanding the dark side of humanity helps us understand how some in the medical field exploit people’s vulnerabilities. There are countless products and treatments out there that promise miracle cures and better health but are often overpriced and lack scientific backing. They play on our deepest desires for good health and exploit our fears, all for profit. This should make us realize the importance of integrity and truth.

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“Desperate, Desperate, Desperate”

Tesla employees are quick to defend their work, arguing they are only giving people alternatives to a medical system many no longer trust. Like the automotive company owned by Elon Musk, Tesla BioHealing is named for Nikola Tesla, the 19th-century inventor and early electrical pioneer who has become a favorite of many conspiracy theorists.

Many of Tesla BioHealing’s customers have grown frustrated with the answers they get from doctors, said Seth Robinson, a chiropractor who directs Tesla’s clinic in Delaware. Asked to describe a typical Tesla patient, Mr. Robinson does not hesitate. “Desperate, desperate, desperate is the word,” he said. “A lot of times people will come here, they will have anti-medicine thoughts, feelings. We’re not anti-medicine. We believe medicine has a place. But medicine has a limitation.”

Tesla’s claims have attracted the interest of federal regulators. In August 2023, the FDA wrote to the company demanding responses to questions about its devices and their supposed medical benefits.

Among other concerns, the FDA questioned the assertions Tesla has made about its devices. The agency declined to comment on the matter. Depending on Tesla’s response, the agency could levy fines or take other punitive actions, including ordering the company to remove its products from the market.

The Associated Press contacted several people who had purchased the products, or whose relatives had, who said they later felt duped. None agreed to speak on the record, citing the fear of public embarrassment. Some angry customers have posted complaints about the products on social media. “Don’t waste your money, I’ve already wasted mine,” said one woman who uploaded a TikTok video about her experiences with a BioHealer. During the video, the woman opened the container to reveal the interior of the canister: a solid mass that resembled concrete. “They sold me a can of cement.”

False Credibility

Many of the company’s claims ape the language of science, said Mr. Caulfield, the Canadian law professor, including technical sounding words like “quantum” or “biophotons” to add to their credibility. “They sound high-tech and employ the language of technology and medicine, even borrowing the name of Nikola Tesla,” Mr. Caulfield said. “It’s designed to enhance their credibility.”

Tesla’s claims about life force energy are also based, somewhat, on fact. Biophotons are real—a type of light emitted by living tissue that cannot be seen by the human eye. But their role in health is not well understood and use as a medical therapy is not proven, according to Bahman Anvari, a professor of bioengineering at the University of California, Riverside. Tesla is undertaking a clinical study to demonstrate the effectiveness of the canisters. For now, the company cites a single medical study written by Tesla’s founder and three of its other employees as evidence to back up its claims. That study found that Tesla’s canisters helped a woman who had complained of severe menstrual pain.

Mr. Anvari, however, noted that Tesla’s single journal article was not peer-reviewed, was limited to a single patient who was also receiving standard treatments, lacked a control group and has not been replicated. “It’s completely scientifically implausible,” Mr. Caulfield said. “But if you’re desperate, and you’re looking for answers, you can see why you’d be drawn to it.”

A Different Approach

To avoid deceptive medical conspiracies, it is much better to approach health with patience and determination. James 1:4 artfully says, “Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” Many opt for quick fixes and shortcuts instead of patiently applying instructions from mainstream medicine, which sometimes require a slower and steadier approach. Since we do not end up unhealthy overnight, we should not expect overnight solutions either.

Also, putting in full effort to establish and maintain healthy habits is highly valuable. Ecclesiastes 9:10 states, “Whatsoever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, where you go.” This verse highlights the importance of fully dedicating yourself to what you want out of life, including good health.

Investing ample time and effort into established healthy practices such as eating well, exercising and getting regular medical check-ups leads to much better results than falling for seemingly miraculous schemes. Good choices, when made over the long term, can prevent many ailments in the first place.

Wisdom, knowledge and understanding help people stay sharp and avoid scams. Proverbs 4:7 emphasizes the importance of wisdom, saying, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all your getting get understanding.” Seeking advice from trusted medical providers and doing your own research to better understand the advice helps individuals make wise and informed health decisions for themselves. Proverbs 18:15 adds to this by stating, “The heart of the prudent gets knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge,” reinforcing that staying on top of your health and wellness takes effort.

Through patience, hard work and the pursuit of wisdom, knowledge and understanding, you can shield yourself from medical conspiracies and scams. This approach results in genuine and enduring health gains, based in reality and backed by reliable medical science.

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This article contains information from The Associated Press.