TikTok star doctor talks about social media misinfo - and how to tell the difference

Beware of medical misinformation on social media

Doctor Anthony Youn recently found a video that was edited together of him endorsing a product he didn't even know about.

FOX 2 - We know that what see on social media isn't always genuine - but when it comes to medical advice how do we know?

A doctor who is one of the biggest stars on TikTok joins us for Healthworks.

The backstory:

If you're scrolling social media you are likely getting some medical advice from somebody.

Deena recently saw a post that I thought was a product endorsement by my friend and America's holistic plastic surgeon Dr. Tony Youn. It turns out, he had no idea what I was talking about.

He's both entertaining and informative on social media. By all metrics, plastic surgeon Dr. Anthony Youn is 'TikTok famous.'

"So if I see patients in the office, 20-30 a day max," he said. "With social media, the great thing about that is, I can talk to 200,000 to 300,000 patients in a day and hopefully change their lives

So that's the upside, but here's the downside.

"There is so much misinformation on social media because if you make a big claim, it will get views," he said. "People will share it with other people. But the problem is so much of that information is not real.

"It is very important that doctors like myself, real board-certified plastic surgeons and dermatologists and other doctors to share real information so that people aren't, let's say, buying products that don't work or might potentially be harmful."

It turns out, Deena was duped by some editing magic - so before you buy anything based on a social media post, beware.

Youn said that a video circulating with him promoting Batana Oil is fake.

"Right now AI is a huge problem in social media," he said. "There are companies that are using my image, other people's images to sell products or recommend treatments and it's not even real.

"So the number one thing is if you see, let's say an ad, or somebody promoting a product or treatment, make sure it is the actual person and that it is from their actual account and not somebody else's account.  

"There are so many people now that are stitching, they are taking from, let's say, my video, and then adding to it afterward to sell a product I don't even know about, sometimes."

The bottom line is to make sure you do your homework - investigate the product and investigate who is selling it.