Dead Ivermectin Influencer Told Followers to Take Cyanide to Cure Cancer

In the days since Rhode Island-based ivermectin influencer Danny Lemoi died, his 140,000 Telegram followers have continued to promote his dangerous medical advice—including the use of apricot pits to treat cancer, despite official warnings that this “natural remedy” can be fatally poisonous. 

“If you’ve been told you have cancer there’s enough proof right here to give you hope,” Lemoi wrote in February under a picture of apricot seeds. “You too could be added to the list of cured people who took back their medical freedom.” In Lemoi’s Telegram channel “Dirt Road Discussions,” Lemoi, who was a large machine operator, recommended that his followers take doses of up to 30 kernels a day.

Apricot pits contain a chemical called amygdalin, which is sometimes referred to as B17, and for years has been touted by conspiracy theorists as an alternative cure for cancer. But when ingested, the chemicals in apricot pits cause cyanide poisoning, which can cause dangerously low blood pressure, liver damage, coma, and death.

“Claims that amygdalin can treat cancer are not backed up by research,” Cancer Research UK states on its website, adding: “It contains cyanide, a poison and can cause serious side effects.”

“Eating more than three small raw apricot kernels, or less than half of one large kernel, in a serving can exceed safe levels,” the European Food Safety Authority wrote in 2016. “Toddlers consuming even one small apricot kernel risk being over the safe level.”

Lemoi died on March 3 from heart problems, according to the channel admins of the Telegram group. Heart issues are a known side-effect of taking veterinary ivermectin, but the channel is operating as normal in his absence—and followers continue to post about the problems they are experiencing while following the group’s advice. VICE News previously reported that after Lemoi’s death, some of his Telegram followers who were following his ivermectin “protocol” were concerned about their own “severe” symptoms. Now, with continued recommendations of apricot kernel usage in the channel, other followers have yet again reported possible, and dangerous, side effects.  

“Those in the know recommend 1 seed/10 lbs of body weight, with a max of 20 seeds per day; HOWEVER, Danny always said to throw everything at it… and he mentioned some people who have cancer have said they take up to 30 per day,” one member of the group wrote recently.

Some members of the group report ingesting up to 40 kernels every day.

Despite the widespread consensus that consuming apricot kernels has no impact on cancer and can be dangerous, some of Lemoi’s followers remain convinced the seeds will cure them.

“Danny had told us these seeds are absolutely loaded with B17 which basically kills cancer cells,” one woman wrote this week. “My husband recently had eight weeks of radiation for prostate cancer, and I have basal cell melanoma. We were thankful to find out about these natural remedies!”

Like other anti-science groups, Lemoi’s network claims that the cyanide will target only cancerous cells and leave healthy cells untouched.

The chat group is filled with thousands of messages promoting apricot kernels as a treatment for cancer and other afflictions. When someone mentioned last week that the kernels produce cyanide, they were shot down by other group members.

“I’ve been on apricot seeds for years and that’s a lie they tell because it has amygdalin in them which kills cancer. IT IS NOT CYANIDE,” one member wrote on Monday. They went on to claim that warnings about cyanide are merely “fear mongering so you get chemo instead.”

Dirt Road members who take apricot pits regularly complain about dizziness and blurred vision, but channel admins usually dismiss their concerns as a side-effect known as “herxing”—a real term to describe an adverse response that occurs in people who take antibiotics as a treatment for Lyme disease. 

“I just started taking apricot seeds. On my first day taking 6, I developed a headache,” one member wrote last week. In the responses another member says they experienced similar symptoms but persisted and they are now taking 30 seeds a day.

On Monday, one of the people who has been following Lemoi’s dosage protocols for ivermectin for just a couple of months posted the results of her blood tests. “My liver functions are not good, they are very high. Is this normal?” she asked. In further responses, she told the group that she hadn’t slept in four days.

But members of the group urged her to continue to take the ivermectin while advising her to use other remedies for her deteriorating health.

“I think the Dirt Road Discussion protocol for this is olive oil with lemon first thing in the morning,” one user wrote in response.

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