Richard Horowitz is a physician specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease, tick-borne coinfections, and chronic illness. His published research primarily focuses on treatment protocols for chronic Lyme disease and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome, particularly evaluated through dapsone combination therapy regimens and the Multiple Systemic Infectious Disease Syndrome (MSIDS) model. Additionally, his work includes studies on diagnostic assays for babesiosis and clinical reports on therapies for COVID-19.
47 claims checked on air: 5 context 1 contradicted 8 overstated 19 supported 14 unverified
"Now, there are 18 to 19 different subspecies of Bartonella." (said at 0:08:31)
No published record matching the claim that there are 18 to 19 different subspecies of Bartonella was located; this does not prove the claim false.
"And a lot of these long COVID patients who come in with VEGF, with vascular endothelial growth factor, it's not from spike proteins that are actually inflaming the endovascular area, it's basically Bartonella." (said at 0:08:55)
No published record matching the claim that Bartonella infection is the primary cause of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) elevation in long COVID patients was located; this does not prove the claim false. Published literature demonstrates that Bartonella species produce factors (such as the autotransporter BafA) that activate VEGF receptors and stimulate angiogenesis (e.g., PMID 32678094), and elevated VEGF-A expression has been documented in cohorts of patients with long COVID (e.g., PMID 41074076). Additionally, isolated case reports note that Bartonella infections can clinically mimic or coincide with long COVID symptoms (PMID 38472519). However, no clinical or epidemiological study has demonstrated that elevated VEGF in long COVID cohorts is attributable to underlying Bartonella infection.
"BafA interacts with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) receptor-2 and activates the downstream signaling pathway, suggesting that BafA functions as a VEGF analog." (abstract, passage verified)pubmedfull study (doi)
"This case study illustrates how investigating long COVID uncovered an underlying bartonellosis through clinical metagenomics. Following mild COVID-19, a 26-year-old woman experienced persistent symptoms during 5 months, including axillary adenopathy." (abstract, passage verified)pubmedfull study (doi)
"Findings revealed VEGFA overexpression in long COVID patients (effect size 0.322, SE = 0.098, p = 0.0013), along with sex-specific expression patterns and the influence of sex-hormonal status in females, with significant overexpression of circulating VEGFA levels specifically in postmenopausal women" (abstract, results, passage verified)pubmedfull study (doi)
"there's a relapsing fever Borrelia. It's like a cousin of Lyme disease. It's also showing up in 25% of these patients." (said at 0:10:54)
No published record matching the claim that hard tick relapsing fever Borrelia (such as Borrelia miyamotoi) is found in 25% of chronically ill Lyme-like patients was located; this does not prove the claim false. Published seroprevalence surveys in cohorts with chronic, complex, or Lyme-like illnesses report variable and distinct seropositivity rates (for example, approximately 10% standard Borrelia seropositivity in Canadian chronic illness cohorts), but do not corroborate a 25% detection rate for relapsing fever Borrelia species.
"you get Lyme and Bartonella, which causes immune deficiency. So it destroys your B cells from the bone marrow that make antibodies. 20% of my patients come in with common variable immune deficiency, 85% subclass deficiency." (said at 0:11:39)
No published record matching the claim that Lyme disease and Bartonella infection destroy bone marrow B cells to cause common variable immunodeficiency in 20% of patients or IgG subclass deficiency in 85% of patients was located; this does not prove the claim false.
"When we look intracellularly at the red blood cell zinc, the red blood cell copper, the red blood cell magnesium, we're finding up to 20% of our patients are deficient, which means you cannot detoxify properly and deal with inflammation." (said at 0:23:18)
No published record matching the claim that up to 20% of chronically ill patients are deficient in intracellular red blood cell zinc, copper, and magnesium was located; this does not prove the claim false.
"I recently published an article in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports... I reversed for the first time ever in the world the most sensitive and specific biomarker for Alzheimer's, p-tau217... when we treated the Lyme disease with the 9 weeks of dapsone combination therapy... completely reversed p-tau217." (said at 0:28:33)
No published record matching the claim of complete reversal of the p-tau217 biomarker following dapsone combination therapy in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports was located; this does not prove the claim false.
"I lowered it by 63% in 9 weeks. And that was because it was the infection driving the amyloid and the phosphorylated tau." (said at 0:30:35)
No published record matching the claim that a 9-week dapsone combination protocol reduced phosphorylated tau (p-tau217) levels by 63% in a patient was located; this does not prove the claim false. While published clinical studies and case series on dapsone combination protocols in chronic Lyme disease and post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome exist (e.g., PMID 38792737, PMID 37764145, PMID 35884166, PMID 33105645), none of these published reports document or report data on p-tau217 reductions or tau biomarker changes associated with dapsone therapy.
"I published my first article 2016 on 100 patients on low-dose dapsone. Fatigue got better, joint pain got better, neuropathy got better, brain fog; headaches was the only thing statistically that didn't improve." (said at 0:34:55)
No published record matching a 2016 study of 100 patients evaluating low-dose dapsone combination therapy for chronic Lyme disease symptoms was located; this does not prove the claim false. Subsequent retrospective observational analyses by the author evaluated cohorts of 200 patients receiving dapsone combination therapy, reporting improvements across several chronic symptom categories.
"Tufts, by the way, published one that showed that this combination rifampin/dapsone cures Lyme in the animal model." (said at 0:39:35)
No published record matching the claim that a study from Tufts University demonstrated a combination of rifampin and dapsone cures Lyme disease in an animal model was located; this does not prove the claim false. Published studies on dapsone combinations for Borrelia burgdorferi infection include in vitro evaluation of antibiotic combinations against stationary-phase or biofilm forms (such as PMIDs 32993780 and 28327498) and human case reports, but no study from Tufts University demonstrating cure in an animal model was identified in the published literature.
"These testosterone shots are shrinking your testicles by 15%, and they're stopping your own hormone production." (said at 0:41:55)
No published record matching the claim that testosterone shots shrink testicles by approximately 15% while halting endogenous hormone production was located in the retrieved records; this does not prove the claim false.
"And the problem is that they're mitochondrial poisons and they're affecting your immune system and they cause fatigue, brain fog, pain, neuropathy." (said at 1:01:19)
No published record matching the claim that mycotoxins act as mitochondrial poisons, impair the immune system, and directly cause fatigue, brain fog, pain, and neuropathy in humans was located; this does not prove the claim false.
"There are food mycotoxins, about 25% are probably coming from foods also." (said at 1:03:40)
No published record matching the claim that approximately 25 percent of mycotoxins detected in human testing originate from dietary food sources was located; this does not prove the claim false. In toxicology and public health biomonitoring, diet (e.g., consumption of contaminated grains, nuts, spices, and cereals) is widely recognized as the predominant route of human exposure to regulated mycotoxins such as deoxynivalenol, ochratoxin A, and aflatoxins, but no validated scientific ratio establishes a fixed 25% dietary contribution versus other routes.
"Mycotoxins are potent fungal toxins that frequently contaminate agricultural crops and foods. Mycotoxin exposure is frequently reported in humans, and children are known to be particularly at risk of exceeding safe levels of exposure. Urinary biomonitoring is used to assess overall dietary exposure to multiple mycotoxins." (abstract, results, passage verified)pubmedfull study (doi)
"It's in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports, April 2024. So anyone can read it. But what astonished me is this p-tau 217, which most neurologists consider to be the most sensitive and specific biomarker, I reversed it completely to normal by 63% in nine weeks with an oral antibiotic regimen." (said at 1:13:22)
No published record matching the reported April 2024 case report in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease Reports describing a 63% normalization of the p-tau 217 biomarker in nine weeks following an oral antibiotic regimen was located; this does not prove the claim false.
"But here's the beauty is dapsone combination therapy, the number one effect it always had was improving people's memory statistically in these 375 patients." (said at 1:13:40)
No published record matching a study of 375 patients evaluating dapsone combination therapy with statistically improved memory as its primary effect was located; this does not prove the claim false. Published retrospective chart reviews and observational cohorts on dapsone combination therapy in chronic Lyme disease/post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome report cohorts of 200 patients (evaluating eight general symptom categories without isolating memory as a primary endpoint), 40 patients, and 25 patients, rather than 375 patients.
"A total of 200 adult patients recruited from a specialized Lyme disease medical practice had been ill for at least 1 year... DDS CT statistically improved the eight major Lyme symptoms." (abstract, results)pubmedfull study (doi)