Are celebs like Kim Kardashian the new 'Dr. Google'?

By MDLinx staff

Published May 28, 2025

Key Takeaways

Industry Buzz

"I think it generally reflects a disillusionment with the medical system in general, and that people feel like ... the system is not working for them." — Andrew Lacy, Prenuvo CEO
"This is undoubtedly a campaign to force doctors to order useless tests, because a good history, physical examination, and imaging tests aimed at the patient's complaint resolve 98% of cases. In my opinion, these celebrities were paid to do this propaganda." — Cynthia Netto, MD UFMG, OB/GYN

Find more of your peers' perspectives and insights below.

When your patient starts a sentence with, “I saw Kim Kardashian did it…”—brace yourself. This time, it's about full-body MRI scans, which are having a viral moment thanks to celebrity endorsements and a polished push from companies like Prenuvo.

In a recent Instagram Reel, family medicine physician Mike Varshavski, DO (aka Doctor Mike), sat down with Prenuvo CEO Andrew Lacy to unpack what many in medicine are side-eyeing: the clinical value—and risk—of high-resolution whole-body MRI for asymptomatic individuals.

The scan that launched a thousand questions

Dr. Varshavski doesn’t hide his skepticism. “I know what Kim Kardashian charges—one to two million dollars a post,” he notes. So when Kardashian publicly endorsed Prenuvo, and the company claimed she came in as just a “regular patient,” he asked the question every skeptical clinician was thinking: Did she really pay?

This is where the line between influencer marketing and genuine medical interest remains blurry.

Doctors vs influencers: Who do patients trust?

Lacy suggests this celebrity trend reflects a broader issue: public disillusionment with healthcare. “People feel like the system isn’t working for them,” he says.

It’s a fair point. Many patients feel rushed through visits, unheard, or unsupported—especially in preventive care. But does that justify shelling out thousands for an unvalidated screening tool with a known risk of overdiagnosis?

What’s the actual evidence?

To date, no major medical body recommends full-body MRI for routine screening in asymptomatic individuals. The potential harms—false positives, unnecessary procedures, patient anxiety—often outweigh the hypothetical benefit of catching a rare asymptomatic cancer early.

"There's no medical condition that requires a full-body MRI: Cancer patients or those undergoing cancer control need PET scans. This is undoubtedly a campaign to force doctors to order useless tests, because a good history, physical examination, and imaging tests aimed at the patient's complaint resolve 98% of cases. In my opinion, these celebrities were paid to do this propaganda," Cynthia Netto, MD, UFMG, an OB/GYN, wrote in a comment.

And yet, for a population increasingly influenced by social media—and increasingly skeptical of traditional medicine—celebrity-endorsed scans might feel more trustworthy than a doctor’s reassurance.

The bottom line for physicians

You’re likely to get more patient questions about Prenuvo than about the latest USPSTF guidelines. Be ready. Ground the conversation in data, not fear—and be honest about the limits of both medicine and marketing.

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