'The Whole Pantry' App Developer Admits Faking Cancer to Boost Sales

[ThunderSkunk]

An excellent capitalist, who has what it takes to work in U.S. law or finance.

Sounds like she's got the same publicist as Lance Armstrong.

 

[GeneralChang]

It's funny because that is the Latin word (facticius), adjusted slightly for English spelling

Go figure. This is one of the issues with English inheriting a third of its vocabulary from non-ancestral languages.

 

[John.B]

Shameless.

 

[TsunamiTheClown]

Jail time solves all kind of moral problems, or at least will give her "time to heal".

 

[Makosuke]

The Australian Women's Weekly suggests that Gibson may suffer from Factitious Disorder, whose sufferers feign illnesses and disease to gain a wider audience and recognition.

No, I'm pretty sure that when somebody claims they cured themselves of cancer using techniques they didn't actually use, since they never actually had cancer, and then uses that claim to sell things to actual people with actual cancer with claims you'll donate money to a good cause, and then don't actually donate the money in addition to lying about your illness and treatment in the first place, that's called fraud.

Which is a crime. And additionally morally despicable if the claimed "cures" don't actually work, since she's selling snake oil to genuinely sick people based on a lie.

Just some info...

Factitious Disorders

To pull an even more relevant quote from the same page you linked:

Similarly, the behavior of people with Factitious Disorder is not malingering, a term that refers to faking illness for financial gain (such as to collect insurance money), food or shelter, or to avoid criminal prosecution or other responsibilities. Malingering is potentially criminal behavior and not a mental illness.

See, if you pathologically fake illness even though it's doing nothing but gaining you sympathy, and may actually be causing you financial and physical harm (unnecessary tests, self-harm to simulate symptoms), then yeah, you might have a mental problem (more commonly known as Munchausen Syndrome).

If you're using a fake illness for financial gain (not to mention freely admit it when challenged, as in this case), you're not mentally ill, you're just a common criminal of the old-as-dirt scam artist sort.

 

[needfx]

she's forgiven 'cause she's sizzlin'

 

[AppleInLVX]

You're probably wrong.

You're probably right.

Sigh.

 

[unlinked]

Also, throwing in gender specific name calling like "bitch" makes it even worse. Makes one seriously question whether you'd behave the same way if the person involved was a man.

If she was a man things would be totally different. People would be calling him a dick or a prick and not defending him after he defrauded cancer charities out of $300,000 and possibly caused deaths by encouraging people to stop treatment.

 

[mazz0]

If she was a man things would be totally different. People would be calling him a dick or a prick and not defending him after he defrauded cancer charities out of $300,000 and possibly caused deaths by encouraging people to stop treatment.

I'd like to think you're correct, but experience suggests otherwise.

 

[JeffyTheQuik]

This is the worst, as she makes people suspicious of those really in need.

A double pox on her.

 

[AlecZ]

" Gibson may suffer from Factitious Disorder, whose sufferers feign illnesses and disease to gain a wider audience and recognition."

come on now.

Wow, that's the most ridiculous "disorder" I've ever heard of.

 

[glutenenvy]

I don't care if you are sick, or well, or an inflatable purple diamond unicorn, lying is lying.

It is disrespectful of cancer survivors and non-survivors of her to claim that she had cancer to make a buck.

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I want an app available that gives me a list of disorders and illnesses to get me off the hook of whatever I have done wrong. Although this one seems like it will cover quite a bit!

Does webmd count? I can go in with a toothache and webmd will insist I have at least one deadly plague.

 

[laurim]

Ok....
As much as I agree she is a pretty scummy human being, exactly whose lives did she wreck? Seriously?

Every time someone does something like this it reinforces people's suspicions that everyone is a liar and out to take advantage of them. It matters when people break the social contract we are supposed to have with each other. Look at the state of politics for a perfect example of how continually telling lies and distortions makes it nearly impossible for people to work together to get important things done.

I can't stand all these food crusaders. None of them actually understand food science and play on people's fears about things they don't understand. All to sell supplements, books, tv appearances, website clicks, etc. They choose a popular food to vilify for attention based on an anti-science stand and then the company that makes it has to decide whether to try to educate people, which never works, or spends millions changing their products to make the food nazis happy. Then the rest of us wonder why the food we loved doesn't taste as good or last as long anymore. I look forward to the day that Food Babe chick and Dr. Mercola are exposed for the charlatans they are.

 

[wiz329]

All it would take is one patient with a curable cancer who did poorly and died based on her diet "curing" her cancer, right?

I mean I guess ...

But if someone actually puts their medical treatment in the hands of an app-developer based on hearsay? Even if she were telling the truth, she's a sample size of one -- not exactly enough to stake your life on.

I mean sure, try it out. It may or may not help.

But I seriously doubt anyone died because she duped them into using this as a sole form of medical treatment for cancer. A despicable person who lied to get false publicity and make money off of people? Sure. Someone of "wrecked people's lives" and a potential murderer? Not really.

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Every time someone does something like this it reinforces people's suspicions that everyone is a liar and out to take advantage of them. It matters when people break the social contract we are supposed to have with each other. Look at the state of politics for a perfect example of how continually telling lies and distortions makes it nearly impossible for people to work together to get important things done.

I can't stand all these food crusaders. None of them actually understand food science and play on people's fears about things they don't understand. All to sell supplements, books, tv appearances, website clicks, etc. They choose a popular food to vilify for attention based on an anti-science stand and then the company that makes it has to decide whether to try to educate people, which never works, or spends millions changing their products to make the food nazis happy. Then the rest of us wonder why the food we loved doesn't taste as good or last as long anymore. I look forward to the day that Food Babe chick and Dr. Mercola are exposed for the charlatans they are.

I agree with you, I'm just not sure this makes her someone who "needs to pay for wrecking people's lives". Is she a pathological liar? Probably. Did she defraud people by making up this story. Absolutely. Did she wreck people's lives? Eh... not really.

 

[Hieveryone]

I have several 4 letter words I'd like to post. Unfortunately, the mods would not like that.

And that's all I have to say

 

[Waxhead138]

One Word:

Sociopathic.

 

[Carlanga]

She should get less than none. She should be fined more than she collected and be sent to prison.

Leaving her with none of it at the end does nothing more than restart her to before she lied. She's no worse off for having wronged people.

When someone robs you, they don't just have to give your stuff back. They give your stuff back and they go to prison.

Otherwise there's no reason not to rob people - worst case you're exactly where you're started, and in the best case, you never get caught and you're much better off for having committed fraud.

We can't change the best case for criminals. Some people will always manage to get away with what they've done. But we can make it much more risky to disincentive you.

The reality is that mostly blue collars criminals go to prison White collars get a slap on the wrist, a small fee and done.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insider/2015/01/07/the-year-in-white-collar-crime-a-look-back-helps-us-see-ahead/

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

The reality is that mostly blue collars criminals go to prison White collars get a slap on the wrist, a small fee and done.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insider...-collar-crime-a-look-back-helps-us-see-ahead/

Those didn't sounds like small fees to me. Companies wrongfully made tens of millions of dollars and were fined hundreds of millions of dollars.

Whereas a company can afford to pay huge fines many times the size of what they wrongfully acquired (they have other, legal, sources of income), or at worst, can declare bankruptcy, I don't think such a punishment is realistic for this woman. She's such a worthless scumbag - fining her $4M is pointless because she would never come up with the money. Just take all her ill gotten money and throw her in prison for a year or two, so that she is worse off for the things she's done.

 

[captain cadet]

Okay, she has mental issues and lied... Profiting from false claims, is that a crime in AU?

Where's the money that was supposed to be donated? Isn't that a crime?

Does anyone know what % was supposed to be donated?

I can't believe her smug, "can't we all just get along" attitude

Its fraud simply.
Though I am amazed that the app development company and Penguin did not do a background check on her as such to see did she have the disease and so on. She probably didn't have the paperwork to prove it or if she did and she made the documents up - those are legally binding documents and lets say... The poop will hit the fan with her...

 

[kd5jos]

Ok....
As much as I agree she is a pretty scummy human being, exactly whose lives did she wreck? Seriously?

Anyone that bought her BS instead of seeking treatment, the families of those people, people that were given false hope, the families of those people, people that diverted money to support her food recommendations, instead of other necessities...

Just off the top of my head.

 

[eko91]

how could she possibly do that ....

In what right mind would anyone want to do that?? To boost up their sales?? Just cause citizens have a kind heart in wanting to help charities and those that are sick, doesnt give anyone the right to lie.. Once a lie maybe become something true. Karma will get her...

 

[.Andy]

I was trying to follow up on this today and it all seems very quiet. Everything seems to have settled down with no further talk of criminal charges against Gibson. Has anyone else heard anything?