Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed made money promoting health products, including while invoking his medical credentials, despite saying he broadly rejected advertisements for products making health claims and criticizing others for doing the same.

Before running for Senate, El-Sayed hosted a podcast that provided him with a six-figure income partially through ad reads. Among the companies El-Sayed promoted for cash, often citing his purported experience as a doctor, were firms selling supplements, peptides, and an Israeli metabolism-tracking device that has been scrutinized by health experts.

The ad reads came despite an assurance from El-Sayed that he would not use his platform to sell health products to people who listen to him.

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«I broadly reject any advertisements that are for products making claims about health,» he wrote in a now-deleted social media post from March 2022.

El-Sayed also accused Mehmet Oz during his 2022 Pennsylvania Senate run of being part of the «medical industrial complex that exists to sell you things that you don’t need that are not actually based in any level of science.»

«Yet he can … say, ‘Well, I’m a doctor, so you should trust what I have to say,’» El-Sayed added.

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Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Michigan Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) greet the crowd after El-Sayed spoke at The People V. The Powerful rally at the Detroit Opera House on July 18, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

After assuring his audience that he wouldn’t hawk health products, and criticizing Oz for using his medical credentials for doing so, El-Sayed used his medical credentials to sell health products.

«Even as a doctor and epidemiologist, nutrition labels are obnoxiously hard to process,» El-Sayed said during a March 2025 ad read. «That’s where Thrive Market comes in. See, I love Thrive Market, my go to online grocery store for getting all of my healthy essentials delivered. And I don’t even have to leave my couch.»

Thrive Market has sold a wide selection of supplements, including items such as «Moon Juice Brain Dust» and «Royal Jelly Brain Fuel» that claim to improve the cognitive function of those who use them. Health experts have cast doubt on whether or not such supplements can actually improve brain function.

Moon Juice Brain Dust describes itself as a «nootropic blend of adaptogens and herbs that target stress to support mental stamina, alertness, and concentration» that is «informed by Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda.» Royal jelly, meanwhile, is a thick, milky substance produced by bees to feed their queen. Proponents argue it can be helpful in treating menopause symptoms or addressing low energy, though scientific evidence for such claims is limited.

Thrive did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

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Michigan Democratic candidate for Senate Abdul El-Sayed speaks at The People V. The Powerful rally at the Detroit Opera House on July 18, 2026, in Detroit, Michigan. (Sarah Rice/Getty Images)

While El-Sayed has leaned heavily on his identity as a doctor both in doing ad reads and on the campaign trail, public records indicate that he never held a medical license or completed a residency. He does, however, hold a medical degree and a doctorate degree in public health.

The New York Post was the first to report on El-Sayed’s advertisement for health goods.

A company making moon dust and brain jelly wasn’t El-Sayed’s only customer.

On July 23, 2024, El-Sayed read an ad promoting a medical device created by an Israel-based startup. 

«Lumen is the world’s first handheld metabolic coach. It’s a device that measures your metabolism through your breath and on the app. It lets you know if you’re burning fat or carbs and gives you tailored guidance to improve your nutrition, workout, sleep, and even manage your stress,» he said. «All you’ve got to do is breathe into your Lumen first thing in the morning, and it’ll give you an inside look into what’s going on with your metabolism, whether you’re burning mostly fats or carbs.»

Years before El-Sayed took Lumen’s advertising money, experts were raising concerns about its medical claims.

«I just don’t see a practical use for the product in helping people achieve their weight-loss goals,» Harbor-UCLA Medical Center senior researcher Nicholas Tiller told Outside Magazine in 2022. «The use of metabolic flexibility and other science-sounding terms lend the product a false scientific legitimacy.»

«It’s quintessential marketing over science,» he added.

El-Sayed also advertised for a company offering a peptide that allegedly improves skin health.

The El-Sayed campaign did not respond to a request for comment when reached by Fox News Digital on Monday.

El paquete de reformas para liberalizar y descentralizar la economía cubana y el surgimiento de la figura de un nieto del expresidente Raúl Castro como interlocutor para EE.UU. ha abierto una grieta para las autoridades de la isla por un extremo imprevisto: su izquierda.

El descontento se ha cocinado a fuego lento en las últimas semanas -principalmente en colectivos militantes de la isla, medios alternativos de izquierdas y redes sociales- a raíz del anuncio por sorpresa de las 176 medidas para transformar la economía cubana y su aprobación expedita.

La defensa de la economía socialista es el principal caballo de batalla de estos críticos y escépticos, que temen que el paquete de medidas abra las puertas -y los activos del país- al capitalismo, pese a que el Gobierno cubano, que califica los cambios de «urgentes y necesarios», lo ha negado en repetidas ocasiones.

El medio digital cubano Punto y Aparte denuncia en un editorial que algunas reformas «implican el retorno del país hacia un régimen capitalista puro y duro, y acentúan las desigualdades» y son «un acto de rendición de la Revolución Cubana frente a los intereses de la nueva burguesía del país y del capital financiero internacional».

Su colectivo editorial critica además «la arrogancia y la mezquindad» de «funcionarios y negociantes que ya han demostrado demasiadas veces no estar a la altura del momento histórico» e insta a la «participación popular» para revisar y modificar las reformas, a «no seguir en silencio cuando la patria necesita escuchar la voz de todos sus hijos».

Un informe interno de militantes del Partido Comunista de Cuba (PCC, único legal) al que EFE tuvo acceso afirma por su parte que algunas medidas «rebasan ampliamente lo que históricamente se fijó como admisible e incluso confrontan con lo que han sido las representaciones del socialismo en nuestro pueblo».

El documento, titulado «Impulsar el Socialismo desde el Poder Popular», exige además que las transformaciones que necesita el país se debatan abiertamente en las comunidades.

En esa misma línea argumenta un escrito en redes sociales de Alejandro Sánchez, secretario de la Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas (UJC) en la Universidad de La Habana, que pide un poder ejercido no «solamente desde arriba», sino acompañado de «mayor participación» y «control popular».

El otro elemento de controversia para estos sectores es el papel que ha asumido de manera implícita Raúl Guillermo Rodríguez Castro, nieto y guardaespaldas del expresidente Raúl Castro, como referente de la parte cubana en los contactos con EE.UU., pese a no tener ningún cargo formal.

El periodista cubano Michel Torres, presentador del programa ‘Con filo’ en la televisión estatal, ha sido uno de los críticos más fuertes del rol del nieto de Castro, como quedó reflejado en una columna de opinión aparecida en el medio uruguayo Mate Amargo.

En ese texto critica a Rodríguez Castro por «usurpar las funciones del Gobierno» y «asumir un rol público» para el que no fue elegido. Además advierte que a Cuba «no la van a salvar los vástagos corrompidos por la estulticia y la frivolidad».

También lamenta que se dejase prosperar a perfiles de este tipo por no «atentar contra la unidad», pero considera que «el ruido que provocan ya es ensordecedor»: «No hay arenga o reclamo que calme la indignación que provocan esos frutos del nepotismo ‘socialista’: ¿qué justifica su impunidad?».

En declaraciones a EFE, Torres asegura que en la isla hay posturas «muy heterogéneas» y aboga porque se expresen, «incluso desde posturas críticas o de divergencia», siempre que no se lacere la unidad, «porque el enemigo no está ni en el Comité Central (del PCC) ni en el Gobierno cubano: el enemigo está en Miami, en Washington».

A su juicio, la unidad no debe ser «acrítica», pero sí «monolítica». «Porque de lo contrario estamos regalándole juego a los que quieren ver el final de la revolución. Por mucho que podamos discrepar, sabemos que eso sería lapidario para el proceso revolucionario cubano», argumenta.

A House GOP lawmaker is accused of sexually harassing two «young female staffers» in his office in an explosive report that details lavish gifts, trips, and even reciting a poem for one of the aides in an incident that made others in his office uncomfortable.

The House Ethics Committee is recommending a censure for Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-N.C., after an extensive probe found that he violated the House of Representatives’ code of conduct with repeated incidents targeting the two staffers.

«Specifically, the Committee found that Representative Edwards engaged in persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct towards two young female staffers. While Representative Edwards denied that any of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, his pattern of behavior would lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such, including providing the young women with lavish and recurrent gifts, making comments regarding their appearance and dress, inviting them to intimate dinners and vacations, sending notes regarding his effusive affection, and inviting them to other activities as a way to spend time together,» the report said.

The committee also said Edwards sought to cooperate with the panel, but that some messages deemed relevant to the probe were «omitted and/or seemingly deleted from his phone.»

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«An example of Representative Edwards’ unprofessional conduct was commenting on the two women’s appearance in the congressional office, telling them when they looked ‘pretty’ or ‘breathtaking,’ and even remarking on one staffer’s weight,» the report said.

Edwards told the committee he only commented on staffers’ clothing and said «it’s almost an insult if you don’t make some comment about [one another’s clothing],» according to the report.

While sexual harassment allegations are detailed regarding both staffers, the report goes into significant detail about Edwards’ alleged entreaties to the aide referred to as «Staffer 2.»

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That includes that Edwards «wrote poems for Staffer 2, including one that he read at her going away party in the congressional office accompanied by a slideshow, during which he cried.»

«Several staffers present testified that they felt uncomfortable, and Representative Edwards acknowledged in his own testimony that he could tell the staff felt uncomfortable,» the report said.

Edwards also «arranged for a singer to go to Staffer 2’s birthday party to sing Ed Sheeran’s Hills of Aberfeldy and say that it was ‘from a special someone,’» according to the findings.

That staffer confided in a friend after the ordeal that it left her «scared lowkey,» the report said.

Edwards, R-N.C., during a House Budget Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, April 15, 2026.  (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The congressman also went to her home «to perform chores like yard work, pick her up and drop her off for events and activities with his driver.»

He also missed House votes to help Staffer 2 decorate her Christmas tree, according to the report.

The findings also state he «Took Staffer 2 to the casino, bought her drinks and paid for her to gamble. Staffer 2 texted Representative Edwards after one such outing to thank him for a fun night.»

He printed that text message on paper and drew a heart next to it, the report said, and handwrote, «Perhaps my proudest personal moment!»

Edwards is also accused of booking and paying for spa treatments for that staffer and sending both staffers «personal texts late in the evening.»

Later, when «Staffer 2» told Edwards that she received another job offer, Edwards told her he cried and then proceeded to «repeatedly» ask her to dinner for the next several days, the report said.

She told the congressman that it was not «a great idea» after a friend asked her about rumors of an affair between Edwards and a staffer, to which the report said Edwards responded, «It’s disappointing to feel something that used to be easy has gotten complicated. Whether we were talking about cat poop, crime plots, or thoughts more meaningful—I’ve always valued the time we shared, and the money we won 🙂 and I thought you might too. I didn’t expect outside chatter to change that. Still, I understand. You get to set the boundaries, and I get to respect them. If you ever feel easy again, I hope you’ll give me the signal.»

Edwards told the committee that he «suppose[d]» his response could seem intended to make someone feel guilty, but that was not his intent.

«That was my way of saying – I ain’t asking again because part of harassment is, when an interaction is not wanted and repetitive, and I was just trying to set the groundwork for ‘I’m going [] to respect that,» he apparently told the committee.

Edwards also said the text showed he allowed those staffers to set boundaries on what they were comfortable with, but the committee noted it «received evidence that Staffer 1 and Staffer 2 did not always feel free to reject Representative Edwards’ attentions without fear of professional consequences.»

With «Staffer 1,» Edwards is also accused of leaving an event early and telling her it was because she «brought a date,» but he told the committee «that he told Staffer 1 that he did not want to be ‘in the way or something to that effect.’»

The House Ethics Committee is chaired by Edwards’ fellow Republican Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., but acts on a bipartisan basis to investigate lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

The explosive report comes after a string of high-profile sexual harassment allegations against House members including now-former Reps. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., and Tony Gonzalez, R-Texas, both of whom have since resigned amid the blowback.