In September 2024, Telegram spread that close relatives of Douglas Emhoff - shareholders of the largest producer of puberty blockers. We checked the authenticity of such publications.

Viral posts are based on English -language videos that lasts a little more than a minute and allegedly published BBC. It says that the family of Douglas Emhoff, the husband of US President Kamaly Harris, owns the shares of the ABBVIE pharmaceutical company - the manufacturer of the hormonal drug LuPron Depot, which blocks puberty, is available for children with gender dysphoria from the age of eight and supposedly causes infertility. From this, the authors of the video conclude that Emhoff is interested in the popularization of the use of puberty blockers. At the end of the video it is noted that Harris was already suspected of a conflict of interests when in 2015 California prosecutors, led by the current presidential candidate, refused to conduct an investigation against Herbalife, and the company's interests that belonged to Emhoff defended the interests of the company.

The video was published by such Telegram channels as "Bocharik (yeah, the same)"(166,000 views at the time of writing of the analysis),"Kostyan Cat - Official Channel"(150 000),"Cultural"(103,000),"There are only girls in jazz"(55,000) and"Yuhu Moscow"(46,000).

Video source: social networks

Although the problems of the LGBT+ community in general and the transperson in particular Do not enter Among the topics that most concern the Americans on the eve of the election of the head of state, they are often mentioned as part of the election campaigns of both candidates. Harris - consistent Defender of the rights of Quirds and Transgender people, and many activists Support her candidacy, despite the past reproaches, suspicions and accusations. The opponent of the current vice president, the Republican and the former head of state Donald Trump, on the contrary, operates In his speeches and statements, the topic of transgenderness, promising, in the event of a victory in the elections, “protect children from the gender madness of the left” and cancel Measures to protect LGBT+introduced by the administration of Joe Biden. In 2023 a politician He performed And against the illegal use of puberty blockers, and also demanded an investigation against their manufacturers.

The issues related to the transgender were discussed during the debate of Trump and Harris, held on the night of September 11, 2024 Moscow time. For example, Trump declaredthat if the president was elected, his rival is going to "carry out transgender operations on illegal immigrants in prison." Apparently, this is a distorted retelling of the recent plot of CNN - journalists said that in 2019, participating in the primaries from the Democratic Party, Harris answered questions from the questionnaire of the American Civil Freedoms Union (ACLU). In particular, the politician noted that it considers it important to provide all the necessary and related to medical care to people depending on the state, including those in places of imprisonment.

ABBVIE Corporation mentioned in the video is one of the largest Pharmaceutical companies in the world. Its most popular developments include drugs for treatment chronic lympholecosis, Arthritis, psoriasis, hepatitis C. and many other diseases. ABBVIE shares are traded on the exchange, just in circulation are located More than 1.7 billion securities.

“Verified” could not be found in authoritative sources of reports that Emhoff or his close relatives have ever bought shares of this pharmaceutical company. The authors of the viral video do not call the source of their information. Under American laws, ABBVIE is obliged to disclose data on investors (individuals and legal entities), which owns more than 5% of its shares. In the annual report for 2023 indicated Two such shareholders: The Vanguard Group (9.08%) and BlackRock (8.1%) investment companies. Judging by the official declarations Harris, her husband is relatively actively engaged in investments, but prefers not shares, but less risky securities, mainly exchange funds (ETF). However, even if Emhoff, through relatives, owned a minority share in ABBVIE, to convict it on this basis in the popularization of puberty blockers as justified as in the popularization of the fight against cancer and other diseases against which the company is sold by the company.

ABBVIE really produces the LUPRON Depot drug mentioned in the video. According to Description A drug from the company's website, it can be used for children aged eight to nine years in the treatment of premature puberty. This pathology Little is common: It is found in one of 5000 - 10,000 girls and even less often in boys. Children whose puberty begins earlier than usual may encounter difficulties in communicating with others and, as a result, psychological problems. Treatment implies Braking puberty until the beginning of the “normal” puberty (8–13 years in girls and 9-14 years in boys).

Also, the viral video says that Lupron Depot is used for gender dysphoria, that is, the discrepancy between the gender self -identification of man and his biological sex. In the materials on the ABBVIE website, this development is not said about this development, although similar drugs are true can be assigned With a diagnosis to slow down puberty. In 2021, Texas Prosecutor General Kevin Pakston announced On the beginning of the investigation against ABBVIE and several other companies - they were suspected of advertising puberty blockers as funds for adolescents who have already entered the puberty with gender dysphoria. At the time of writing this analysis, the office of the pacron and Not presented The results of the investigation.

According to the authors of the video, the use of Lupron Depot can lead to patients of patients in the future. Neither ABBVIE nor the quality control of food and medicines (FDA), which checks the drugs before entering the market, reports on such a side effect. Among the possible negative consequences, FDA calls skin reactions, discomfort And intracranial hypertension.

Finally, the video reminds of the 2015 scandal around Herbalife. As the General Prosecutor of California, Harris, allegedly, refused to initiate a criminal case against a corporation selling biologically active additives on charges of using fraudulent mechanisms in marketing. And the interests of Herbalife were protected by the legal company Venable, owned by Emhoff. The husband of the future vice president of the United States joined to this company in 2006, received In it, a share and a few years later became the managing director of offices in Los Angeles and San Francisco. History around the failed investigation against Herbalife I surfaced In the press back in 2019, when Harris led her first presidential campaign. By data The American media, Emhoff himself did not participate in the representation of the interests of Herbalife, but the reasons why his wife ignored the calls of colleagues to initiate a business are still not known.

In other words, in the video allegedly released by the BBC, there is an uncharacteristic number of errors, inaccuracies and inaccurate formulations uncharacteristic of such a large and authoritative media. Although, in its design, the video resembles the content of the British broadcasting corporation, to find it on the official resources of this media (site, accounts in Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube And Tiktok) failed. The design of the viral video is different from what BBC has been using recently: the publication has abandoned the demonstration of the logo at the beginning of the video, and also mainly accompanies the video sequence by ordering and does not use background music.

Left - a frame from genuine BBC video, on the right - from distributed video

When comparing the original BBC videos and a viral video, it is noticeable that the font is different. This can be seen by the letters a, k, g, s.

Comparison of fonts c BBC video (upper screenshot) and in distributed video (lower screenshot)

The earliest publication in which Emhoff’s video was used with ABBVIE and which was discovered “verified” was placed In the Telegram channel “Cat Kostyan-Official Channel” September 6 at 18:53 Moscow time. This pro -Kremlin canal was mentioned in other analysis "Checked." Distribution on such resources of videos allegedly published by the BBC and other international media, Not uncommon.

Thus, there is no evidence that Emhoff's relatives own any significant share in ABBVIE and are therefore interested in the spread of puberty blockers. As a confirmation of this information, the Telegram channels used a fake video preserved for the plot of the BBC.

Photo on the cover: The White House / Flickr