What was claimed
An Auckland orthopaedic surgeon has developed a device to treat joint pain.
Our verdict
False. The surgeon does not exist and the details have been fabricated.
AAP FACTCHECK - Supposed New Zealand surgeons are being used to promote medical treatments on social media, but they are all AI-generated fabrications.
One of the supposed surgeons appears in an Instagram video spruiking a joint pain treatment.
The video features a man in scrubs with a stethoscope claiming to be an Auckland orthopaedic surgeon who has spent "22 years operating on rotator cuffs".
The man later claims the product was designed by another New Zealand orthopaedic surgeon, supposedly pictured in a lab coat (timestamp two minutes, five seconds).
A related Facebook page also features the clip along with more than 300 ads, many of which claim the product was designed by an Auckland orthopaedic surgeon called "Dr James Anderson", who supposedly also has 22 years of experience, including "over 2500 knee procedures".
The ads link to a website that appears to include an endorsement from Dr Anderson, who it claims works at "North Shore Shoulder Clinic".
The website also includes supposed glowing reviews from customers in Tauranga, Napier and Dunedin.
However, a spokesperson for the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association (NZOA) told AAP FactCheck it has no record of an orthopaedic surgeon called Dr James Anderson.
The Medical Council of NZ, which has a searchable register of all medical doctors in the country, also has no record of an orthopaedic surgeon by that name.
Facebook's page transparency details show the page is managed by users in Venezuela and the US and the website's contact details list a Hong Kong address.
The two surgeons in the Instagram clip are also AI-generated. Gemini, Google's AI assistant, confirms both have been generated using Google AI tools, as the video contains an invisible watermark, known as SynthID.
The clip also features evidence of AI errors. An interior shot of the supposed Auckland office of the surgeon in scrubs has a sign reading “Sydney Shoulder Clinic”, while a medical diagram behind him is labelled “The shoulder charty”.
A similar Facebook page targets Australians with more than 300 ads for the product, but this time it claims Dr Anderson is an Australian orthopaedic surgeon based in Sydney.
The ads link to another website that includes the same images and reviews from purported customers, but claims they're from various Australian states.
Again, the Facebook page is managed by users in Venezuela and the US.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency's register of health practitioners has no record of a Sydney orthopaedic surgeon named James Anderson.
Another Facebook page spruiking the product targets Canadians, but this time the ads and linked website claim Dr Anderson is based in Toronto.
Yet another Facebook page targets US consumers. This time the linked website claims it was developed by a US surgeon, with testimony from a "Dr 'Michael Bennett', who it claims is a New York-based orthopaedic surgeon.
While the website features glowing testimonials from users and claims to have a 4.8 star rating, on the consumer rating website Trustpilot, the product has a 1.3 star rating, classified as 'bad'.
All but one of the 58 reviews gave the product the lowest rating of one star.
Many reported being fooled by the claim the product was developed locally and shipped from their home country, only to discover it took weeks to arrive from China.
The product was also poor quality and not as advertised, many users said, and several said they were unable to gain a refund despite a supposed "90-day money-back guarantee".
AAP FactCheck reached out to Mendable but did not receive a response.
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