Treatment with “medicinal beds” is in fashion and promises a miraculous cure

Companies are charging thousands of dollars for “MedBeds,” beds that promise miracle cures for ailments.

Weird places on the internet are filled with talk of miracle devices that can cure almost any disease imaginable using the power of mystical energy. There are companies that charge thousands of dollars for these “MedBeds” (short for medicinal beds), but their effectiveness is far from proven.

An adapted hotel in a small town on the banks of the Mississippi River, in the United States, seems an unlikely place to house a revolutionary technology, which a brochure on the lobby almost desert call “new wave of scientific healing”.

But since mid-2022, this building in East Dubuque, Illinois has been fitted with medical devices that are supposed to provide “life force energy” to your patients. It is one of several locations operated by Tesla BioHealing spread across the United States (the company has no relationship with the famous car manufacturer).

Journalist Mike Wendling of the BBC, recently tried a MedBed on a gray weekday afternoon. After being received at the entrance, a doctor checked his energy levels, asking him to place his fingers inside a metal box.

He was then taken to one of the rooms, almost the same as when the building was a hotel, and he waited for the “life force energy in the form of pure biophotons” flow into your body.

Conspiracy theories

The idea of ​​MedBeds is increasingly popular on alternative medical channels, on major social media and messaging apps. But people have very different ideas about what they really are.

Some embark on conspiracy theories saying that the technology is secret and will hardly be found by mere mortals, in addition to being hidden from the public by billionaires and the “parallel state” (deep state).

The even more outlandish speculations speak of a “alien technology” and bring the idea that the former American president John F. Kennedy would still be alive strapped to a MedBed.

Another line of thought, with its feet more centered in reality, argues that MedBeds are real and available to the public, but they just aren’t part of the common medical apparatus. Which does not mean that they are validated by science.

But this is the line that Tesla BioHealing and several other companies are betting on, with their high-cost products. Tesla BioHealing offers home generators for prices as low as 19,999 dollarsalthough an hour in one of your hotel rooms with MedBeds costs 160 dollars.

Even in the world of consumer MedBeds, where there is no talk of aliens or JFK, there is no consensus on what a MedBed actually is.

There’s a good reason for that, according to Sara Aniano, a disinformation analyst at the Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism. “It is very difficult to define something that does not exist”he says.

Small print on notices

Aniano has been investigating the rise of conversations about MedBeds online and, as part of his research, signed up for a review with another MedBed company, at 90.10.

“The exam is nothing”, says the analyst. “He tells you to lie down on your bed and think really hard about the MedBed.”

“In their defence, they report, in very small print at the end of your websitewhich MedBed It is not intended to treat or diagnose disease.”according to Aniano.

It’s a common statement used in some form by almost every company offering MedBed-related products.

They list long lists of health conditions their technology is supposed to help treat and provide testimonials from satisfied customers, but they say their products are not intended to replace treatments prescribed by qualified physicians.

Tesla BioHealing is no exception. The company clearly states at the top of its website: “We cannot diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease or condition.”

Still, its promotional material states: “Many people see improvements in their well-being, even after an hour of rest in a Tesla MedBed.” They also present a number of concrete and unconfirmed arguments about specific diseases.

What is it and what are the effects?

Employees at the Tesla BioHealing hotel in East Dubuque told of countless customers with all sorts of ailments, all helped by the MedBeds, they say.

But in his room, the BBC journalist felt nothing but curiosity and mild discomfort as he looked out the window at an almost empty car park.

He didn’t get to complete his hour and went to the doctor’s room, where she repeated the test with her fingers on the metal box. And, of course, my energy, measured by the doctor’s computer, it was already increasing.

In Mike’s room, metal Tesla MedBed containers were sealed in wooden crates and on a nightstand. But neither the doctor nor anyone else at Tesla BioHealing could tell me what was inside the MedBed canisters.

Some die-hard customers have tried to figure it out for themselves. We found a video on TikTok of a concerned consumer who apparently opened one of the cans and found only a substance that looked like cement.

“If you’re thinking about buying one of those Tesla biohealers, don’t waste your money“, she says.

The company does not inform what are the possible active ingredients included inside the cans. But they said by email: “There is much more going on with our technology than meets the eye”.

And while they asserted that Tesla generators are not intended to replace medical care, they made new arguments about cures and asserted, “The health benefits are priceless.”

Tesla BioHealing and 90.10 have reported thousands of positive customer testimonials. And despite the claim prominently on the company’s website that 90.10 offers “science-backed quantum frequency medicine,” 90.10 chief executive Oliver Schalke claimed that “It is not a medical product and never intended to be.”

How, then, is it that MedBed companies are allowed to offer their products, which claim miraculous effects, escaping all regulatory oversight?

Retired psychiatrist Steven Barrett has been investigating questionable arguments in the healthcare industry for decades. According to him, part of the blame lies with the regulatory body for medical products in the United States, the FDA.

“FDA registration is required by any manufacturer wishing to sell products, but it just means you notified the FDA that you exist.”he says.

Tesla BioHealing and other companies advertise that they are FDA registered, but that’s saying very little.

“Registration with the FDA says nothing about whether or not a device is useful”says Barrett.

When it comes to vague claims about wellness or unsubstantiated indications of increased energy, authorities “do next to nothing about it,” he says.

Barrett speaks with a despondent tone, perhaps due to the lack of the MedBeds’ “biophotons”. But more likely it’s the result of spending decades following dubious claims about health treatments.

“Do I think exposure to whatever they’re giving you in bed is making you have more energy? I have serious doubts about that.”he says.