As the number of COVID-19 cases rises across the nation, the White House is battling the work of the “disinformation dozen,” a group of 12 influential anti-vaxxers deemed responsible for some two-thirds of anti-vaccine content circulating on social media, according to a recent study by the Center for Countering Digital Hate.

       The first name on the list of those dubbed misinformation “superspreaders” is Dr. Joseph Mercola, a Chicago-born and trained physician who spent decades building his natural health and wellness empire in the northwest suburbs.

       “Joseph Mercola is a successful anti-vaccine entrepreneur, peddling dietary supplements and false cures as alternatives to vaccines,” the March report said. “Mercola’s combined personal social media accounts have around 3.6 million followers.”

       His unproven claim on social media that “hydrogen peroxide treatment can successfully treat most viral respiratory illnesses, including coronavirus” has been shared on Facebook 4,600 times, according to the report. Headlines featured on his controversial website mercola.com include, “Might COVID injections reduce life span?” and “Letting children catch COVID may provide better immunity than vaccination.”

       The Tribune contacted Mercola’s website for comment and an emailed response suggested reading Mercola’s social media posts and “let us know what misinformation you find.”

       “As you are aware, social media companies are closely scrutinizing and censoring any information that contradicts the (World Health Organization) or (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention),” the email said. “You can review all of Dr. Mercola’s posts for yourself to determine that his statements are truthful.”

       Here are five things to know about Mercola’s local ties — and past fights with government regulators over a slew of unproven claims and medical treatments touted by his business and website.

       Dr. Joseph Mercola in 2003 with his book, "The No-Grain Diet." (STACEY WESCOTT / CHICAGO TRIBUNE)

       1. Mercola’s multimillion-dollar alternative medicine business had humble beginnings in the Chicago area. The son of a waitress and Marshall Field’s employee attended Lane Tech College Prep High School on the North Side and graduated from the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1982.

       He opened his first practice a few years later out of an 800-square-foot office in northwest suburban Schaumburg and for decades operated the Natural Health Center in Hoffman Estates before moving to Florida about 10 years ago.

       2. Mercola has come under fire by the Food and Drug Administration for past unproven medical claims. In 2011, the Tribune reported that his website warned women against getting mammograms for detection of breast cancer. Instead, he promoted using a thermographic camera ― available at his health wellness center — to screen for a variety of conditions, including cancer, lupus, arthritis and other health problems.

       The FDA in a 2011 warning letter accused him of violating federal law by marketing the camera for uncleared and unapproved uses.

       “The FDA is aware that health spas, homeopathic clinics, mobile health units, and other health care facilities are using thermography inappropriately as a stand-alone tool for breast cancer screening or diagnosis,” the agency says on its website. “The FDA is concerned that people will believe the misleading claims about thermography and not get mammograms to screen for breast cancer. People who choose thermography instead of mammograms may miss the chance to detect cancer at its earliest and most treatable stages.”

       Mercola told the Tribune at the time that he stood by his right to make those claims, adding that he planned to fight the FDA.

       3. The Chicago-based American Academy of Pediatrics has spoken out against Mercola’s campaign casting doubts on the safety and effectiveness of potentially lifesaving childhood immunizations. In 2011, the AAP in a letter implored CBS Outdoor to remove an advertisement from the CBS Jumbotron in Times Square in New York that declared, “Vaccines: Know the Risk. Vaccination. Your Health. Your Family. Your Choice.”

       The ad was paid for and endorsed by mercola.com as well as the anti-vaccine advocacy group the National Vaccine Information Center. Mercola has also contributed about $2.9 million over the past decade to the National Vaccine Information Center, according to The Washington Post.

       “The AAP’s 60,000 member pediatricians urge you to remove these harmful messages, which fail to inform the public about the safety of lifesaving vaccines,” the letter said. “Please do your part to help reassure parents that vaccinating their children on schedule is the best way to protect them from deadly diseases.”

       4. Mercola at one point sold tanning beds — and actually claimed they reduced the chance of getting cancer — even though physicians have long cautioned against indoor tanning, citing the risk of skin cancer.

       In 2016, the Tribune reported that he sold tanning beds priced from $1,200 to $4,000 from his Hoffman Estates-based business and “claimed cold winters in the Midwest meant Chicagoans, in particular, would benefit from his tanning beds, which he said could ‘reverse your wrinkles’ and ‘slash your risk of cancer.’ ”

       A Federal Trade Commission lawsuit debunked these claims and in a settlement, Mercola agreed to refund customers up to $5.3 million and promised to no longer sell tanning beds.

       “These types of false claims are especially troubling because of the serious health risks posed by indoor tanning,” the director of the FTC’s bureau of consumer protection had said in a news release. “The fact is, indoor tanning is not safe because it increases the risk of skin cancer, including melanoma.”

       A 2017 news release said the agency mailed refunds totaling $2.59 million to more than 1,300 customers who bought Mercola indoor tanning systems.

       Mercola had told the Tribune he only settled the case as “a business decision,” and stood by his claims. He added that he’d recently moved from the Chicago area — where he once lived in a South Barrington mansion — to Florida “because of his beliefs in the benefits of the sun,” the Tribune had reported.

       5. More recently, the FDA has targeted his claims about COVID-19. In February, the agency sent Mercola a warning letter about vitamins and other products that his websites or social media accounts have directed customers to purchase, indicating that they’re “intended to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19 in people.”

       “We request that you take immediate action to cease the sale of such unapproved and unauthorized products for the mitigation, prevention, treatment, diagnosis, or cure of COVID-19,” the federal agency said in the letter.

       eleventis@chicagotribune.com

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