“A lifestyle adapted to the physiology of the human being allows you to no longer be afraid of any disease, virus or bacteria.” The voiceover is that of Florian Gomet, hero of the documentary The footprint. This ex-math teacher converted to naturopathy declines his “hygienist” principles and his “vegetable and raw” diet. They would have allowed him to run “3,500 kilometers in four months” across Europe, “without a passport, without money and without shoes”. Released this summer, the film benefited from a certain echo at the end of August, because it was during a scheduled screening in Paris (finally cancelled) that the controversy over the naturopath Irène Grosjean broke out. This therapist, who claims to cure the fever of young children “by rubbing their genitals”, was to be the guest star…
Florian Gomet escaped controversy. It is however emblematic of a trend which has been reinforced with the health crisis, at the borders of the quest for well-being, alternative therapies and conspiracy. With his partner, he organizes “Reconnection to life” and “Fasts for change” courses. For 700 euros for five days, the couple offers cold baths, yoga, meditation, energy treatments, purges, barefoot walking and “crusine” classes. Promoters of “natural health”, they carry a vast project: “Participate in the reconstruction site of the Garden of Eden”. It might raise a smile if the director of The footprint was none other than Pierre Barnérias, author of the covido-conspiracy film Heist. The barefoot runner also received support from France-Evening, receptacle of all fake news on the Covid, and Thierry Casasnovas. This cantor of raw food, followed by 500,000 people on YouTube, is the subject of multiple denunciations to the Mission of vigilance and fight against sectarian aberrations (Miviludes).
“Better protected by buying a washing machine than by going to see a kinesiologist”
The world of “alternative medicine” and “well-being” has long been associated with benevolence, links with nature and a certain “zen attitude”. And now we discover links with much more disturbing spheres. “We are facing a significant increase in reports linked first to the deployment of the internet and social networks, then to the health crisis. We are gradually seeing a hybridization between conspiracy and sectarian aberrations, particularly in terms of health “, confirms Christian Gravel, president of Miviludes. His team, for example, closely follows the Réinfocovid site, whose promoters, anti-vaccines and anti-masks, display “a growing proximity to individuals or groups with a sectarian tendency” and conspiracy. In the United States, this convergence between the world of well-being in the broad sense (yoga, “natural” care, etc.) and conspiracy theorists already has a name: “conspiritualism”, for conspiracy and spirituality.
Of course, the millions of French people who appreciate naturopathy, meditation or yoga are not, for the most part, followers of far-fetched or dangerous theories. But these excesses, however, do not surprise the specialists: “With these alternative therapies, starting with naturopathy, we quickly switch to a discourse according to which “conventional” medicine does not treat and only serves to enrich big pharma“, observes Rudy Reichstadt, director of Conspiracy Watch. The explosion in demand has opened the doors wide to practitioners who are malicious or unable to recognize their limits in the face of people in pain. Social networks serve as a sounding board for pseudo- therapists who promote medical fake news and challenge scientific discourse. In this deleterious atmosphere, the risks of being taken under control, scams or delayed diagnosis are real. Last year, two deaths following Fasts have even been reported. Because the vast sector of “alternative care” remains poorly regulated. “Individuals are better protected when they buy a washing machine than when they go to consult a kinesiologist”, regrets Pascale Duval, spokesperson for the National Union of Associations for the Defense of Families and Individuals Victims of Sects.
“Police social networks is beyond our reach”
Admittedly, Miviludes watches over and sends cases to the courts. But its resources are limited and the evidence difficult to gather. The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF) last year carried out a second campaign of checks in the field of alternative therapies, after the one launched in 2018. But the rate of “anomalies (encouragement to give up medical care, misleading claims, etc.) remained very high, at 66%. And above all, only 381 practitioners of all kinds have been targeted, when the slightest online directory lists nearly 600 naturopaths in Paris alone. Same lack of means for the College of Physicians, empowered to fight against the illegal practice of medicine: “We act in the event of a report, but policing social networks is beyond our reach”, slices Dr Jean- Marcel Mourgue, vice-president of the Order.
In the 1990s, the massacres of the Order of the Solar Temple, whose leader Luc Jouret was a homeopath, served as an electric shock. Laws had been passed against sectarian aberrations, Miviludes had been created, the Ministry of Health had set up a “technical support group” (GAT) to evaluate unconventional therapies. Then these subjects passed into the background in the name, in particular, of freedom of care. “But charlatans represent a danger to public health. Unfortunately, the authorities let it happen”, thunders Georges Fenech, the former president of Miviludes (1). And to deplore the putting to sleep of the GAT, the existence of university degrees in anthroposophical medicine, homeopathy or sophrology, or even an offer of alternative therapies in certain hospitals. Without forgetting these training courses in naturopathy or energy care on the site of Pôle emploi…
Technique “psycho – energy – bio – somato – relational emotion – micro-nutrional”
A sign of the times, it took an investigation by the No FakeMeds collective for the DGCCRF to take an interest in Médoucine, a site for recommending “alternative medicine” practitioners. This company has since been the subject of an injunction for deceptive marketing practices. Similarly, it was after the mobilization of doctors on Twitter that the public authorities were moved by the referencing on Doctolib of “alternative” practitioners. “We encouraged them to establish a clear separation with health professionals, to avoid any confusion”, confirms Christian Gravel. Those responsible for the platform have met around forty actors in a month and a half, and must make announcements on the subject before the end of the month. In the meantime, there were still mid-October on this platform “soft therapy” centers offering reiki, kinesiology and access consciousness bars (objects of multiple alerts from Miviludes) or mysterious “psycho – energy – bio – somato – emotion relational – micro-nutritional” (sic)…
However, it will take more than cleaning up the Doctolib file to bring order to this vast sector. Certainly, the new Secretary of State in charge of Citizenship, Sonia Backès, whose mother was a Scientologist, intends to strongly support these subjects. But it is especially towards the Ministry of Health that eyes are turning today. “We need a public agency, placed under its aegis, which evaluates these practices and warns of their risks”, insists an expert. Asked recently about this, the Minister Delegate in charge of Territorial Organization and Health Professions, Agnès Firmin Le Bodo, referred to the work already carried out “by several people, like Serge Guérin, Véronique Suissa and Philippe Denormandy”. The trio rose to prominence with the creation of a controversial association, the Agency for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, which claims to regulate the sector. The declaration of the minister delegate has therefore already caused a certain stir: “This subject cannot be left to the private sector, with all the risks of conflicts of interest that this entails”, chokes Professor Bruno Falissard, president of the Complementary Care Commission at the Academy of Medicine.
Finally, Internet players also have a role to play. “Platforms can regulate problematic sites and be careful that their algorithms do not end up promoting dangerous groups,” notes Gérald Bronner. But these actions have their limits, as this sociologist was able to observe during a recent study: “These new gurus polish their discourse on the most controlled platforms and invest in more permissive networks”. The eternal game of cat and mouse – but here the cat has dozed off and the mouse has taken several steps ahead.
(1) Beware of gurus. Health, well-being, by Georges Fenech. Editions du Rocher, 270 p., €18.