FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong doesn’t endorse Ayurma Healing Oil

Claim: Cardiologist and online health personality Dr. Willie Ong, also known as Doc Willie, endorses Ayurma Healing Oil which claims to treat joint pains and frozen shoulder.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The Facebook video bearing the claim has over 4.5 million views, 49,000 reactions, and 14,000 comments as of writing.

A video clip of Ong with his wife, Liza Ong, was inserted at the beginning of the video to make it seem like he was talking about the product. At the 0:11 mark, another clip is shown that introduces the supposed treatment.

The Facebook post also includes user comments addressed to Ong, suggesting that they believe Ong to be endorsing the product.

The facts: The clip of Ong used in the Ayurma Healing Oil ad was originally from a video posted on February 27, 2021.

In the original video, Ong talks about ways to relieve a frozen shoulder, but he didn’t mention Ayurma Healing Oil at all.

Ong’s name and videos have repeatedly been used in deceptive advertisements promoting various supposed health products. In response to these ads, Ong previously told Rappler in an email that the only product he and his wife endorse is Birch Tree Advance, a nutritional milk for seniors. 

Not FDA registered: Ayurma Healing Oil is also not in the Philippine Food and Drug Administration’s list of approved food and drug products.

Previous false claims: Rappler has fact-checked similar claims about products using Ong in false endorsements:

• FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong doesn’t endorse Nasure Colostrum Milk
  (December 24, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong doesn’t endorse Lung Gold Milk
  (December 18, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Barley Grass Powder ad uses altered photo of Doc Willie Ong
  (September 29, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Fake ads for hair growth product use Doc Willie Ong’s videos
  (August 11, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong ad promoting whitening toothpaste is fake
  (July 25, 2023)
• FACT CHECK: Doc Willie Ong’s name, videos used in fake ads for Glufarelin
  (July 21, 2023)

– Lorenz Pasion/Rappler.com

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