Hospital warns of AI-generated videos falsely showing doctors endorsing weight loss products

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By Daniel Pye

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust has warned patients about fraudulent videos circulating on social media that appear to show its clinicians endorsing weight loss patches.

The hospital believes the adverts have been created using artificial intelligence. In a statement on its website, the trust said it is aware of multiple videos that falsely claim its doctors are using and endorsing these products.

Dr Daghni Rajasingam, deputy chief medical officer, said: “We have checked the names of these doctors, they are not names that exist among our staff members, and as far as we know, they are AI generated images.”

“It is fraudulent and it is a scam,” she added.

The trust is working to get the videos taken down and has encouraged people to report them to the social media platform they appear on.

Mr Inderpaul Birdi, a cardiothoracic surgeon, has said the issue of online content creators presenting themselves as doctors or medical experts is a “growing concern” for the medical community.