Marked by Facebook in its efforts to combat the spread of misinformation online, reports claim that the use of homemade “Indian black ointment” can be used to cure skin cancer and to get rid of skin marks and moles. This claim is untrue, as the use of black ointment, which contains both a caustic and a poisonous plant extract, destroys healthy and cancerous skin cells, which can potentially cause serious infection and permanent deformity.
Examples of postings that make this claim can be found here, here and here.
Some of the reports in question show images of a man named Bill O’Leary, whose website ‘One Answer to Cancer’ apparently documents that he uses black ointment to treat a patch of basal cell carcinoma on his nose (here).
As explained here by The Conversation, black ointment, also known as ‘blood root’, ‘Indian paint’ and ‘red root’, is usually made from zinc chloride, ‘a destructive agent that is corrosive to metals’ and sanguinarine . , ” A poisonous plant extract ” derived from ” Sanguinaria canadensis, a perennial flowering plant native to northeastern America. ”
Historically, the substance was used by Native Americans as well as early European colonists who used it to treat wounds, warts and moles. In the 1930s, an American physician, Fred Mohs, used a drug that contained a small amount of blood root to stabilize a tumor and examine it under a microscope.
“This historical practice is used to give credibility to the use of black ointment for the treatment of malignant diseases, despite the fact that Mohs publicly denies its use for the purpose,” explains The Conversation (here).
According to WebMD, some believe that using black ointment can kill cancer cells (here). However, the caustic also kills healthy tissue because “the ointment cannot see a difference.” Its use is dangerous because it ‘damages the skin by killing tissue and leaving a dry, dark scab or wears out completely’ and ‘can cause side effects such as pain and infection.’
In addition, the ointment “only affects the cells it touches.” Skin cancer such as melanoma “goes deeper than the outer layer of your skin”, which means that cancer “can continue to grow in the deeper layers” (here).
The sale of black ointment as a cancer treatment is illegal in the United States (here). The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an urgent warning about the dangers associated with the substance, saying that black ointment can ‘destroy the skin and cause permanent deformity, tissue necrosis (death of cells in living tissue), and lead to to infection (here).
As stated here by the American Academy of Dermatology, there is no evidence that black ointment can cure cancer. In fact, their journal reported that a man who refused to get a skin biopsy for a growth in his nose chose to treat it himself with black ointment. The side of his nose disappeared after a few months the substance was applied to his growth.
“If a product or therapy seems too good to be true, it’s usually a sign of it,” the academy says.
VERDICT
Untrue. Black ointment cancer as well as healthy skin tissue. Its use is not approved by the FDA for the treatment of skin cancer or any other skin condition. This can result in permanent disfigurement and infection.
This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our work to actually check social media posts.