User:Robincantin/Articles/Zach Bush

Zach Bush is an American physician and the CEO of a food supplement company. His alternative medicine theories on the causes of diseases are popular with the anti-vaccination movement in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Medicine
After earning a degree in Spanish, Bush graduated from the University Of Colorado School Of Medicine in 2002 and completed his internal medicine residency in 2005, in Charlottesville, Virginia. He completed a residency in internal medicine (2005), a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism (2009), and an internship in palliative care (2014).

Bush practices at a medical clinic in Charlottesville, which he owns. As of 2021, he is certified in hospice and palliative medicine by the Virginia Board of Medicine; his certification in internal medicine lapsed in 2015, the one in endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism in 2019.

Alternative medicine theories
Bush is a proponent of terrain theory: he says viruses don't cause diseases, but are a way for “Mother Nature” to send humans "software updates", proliferating when tissue is diseased. The theory, popular on some alternative medicine circles, is based on the work of 19th-century French chemist Antoine Béchamp, a rival of Louis Pasteur. Bush argues that malfunctioning mitochondria are a common cause of chronic ailments. He stated that many human health problems, including cancer and allergies, are caused by insecticides containing glyphosate (which he calls a "broad spectrum antibiotic") that allegedly weakens human intestinal microbiome. Critics point out Bush presents actual scientific information out of context or in a misleading way to make his claims more believable.

Bush Promotes distrust of vaccines. He associated with some of the most prominent figures of the American anti-vaccination movement during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Del Bigtree. Bush stated he not believe COVID-19 is caused by a virus and minimized the risk associated with the disease. He has become a significant voice in the anti-vaccination movement during the pandemic.

As of 2021, Bush had a considerable reach through his social media platforms, including 250,000 Instagram followers.

Businesses
Bush has founded and is the CEO of the Seraphic Group, a company that oversees his other businesses: the medical clinic in Charlottesville, his Ion Biome health supplement shop and an animal feed business, LumaShield. In addition to supplements, Bush sells online alternative health workshops.

When interviewers schedule Bush on their programs, they are encouraged to talk about his supplement business and become receive payments in exchange for promoting the products, a practice known as affiliate marketing. In 2016, Bush pitched his supplements to parents of children with autism at a conference promoting a variety of dubious treatments.

Bush also founded Farmer's Footprint, a non-profit organization that promotes regenerative agriculture.