Executive summary

Germanic New Medicine (GNM) is a pseudoscientific theory first developed in the 1980s. This theory is the base for a movement that rejects conventional medical treatment and falsely claims diseases stem from emotional conflicts.

At a time when GNM content appears to be reaching a growing audience—particularly on Telegram, where it reaches tens of thousands of users—this Dispatch explores how key actors spread false and misleading narratives, monetise courses and seminars, and deploy AI technology to disseminate their content. This analysis also found cross-pollination with other conspiracy movements; this has the potential to amplify medical misinformation and discouragement of evidence-based treatment to new online audiences. 

Key findings

• ISD identified 13 Telegram channels primarily focused on promoting ‘Germanic New Medicine’ (GNM), a pseudoscientific community rejecting evidence-based medicine. Channels ranged from around 1,000 members to nearly 50,000, with subscription numbers rising in recent months. 
• Core narratives revolved around the nonscientific claim that ‘inner emotional conflict’ causes disease. Medical symptoms were frequently reframed as signs of “healing”, often serving to discourage users from seeking timely medical care. Across almost 5,500 messages in one group, the term Konflikt (conflict) was mentioned almost 800 times.
• GNM channels and groups are part of a broader landscape of channels promoting conspiracy theories to German audiences. Among the forwarded messages, about half came from other channels promoting conspiracy theories or far-right ideologies, highlighting how these GNM channels amplify and circulate such content.
• ISD identified an AI-powered chatbot designed to spread GNM ideas in response to health queries. Analysis of sample text found provably false information about public health and a lack of safety guardrails.
• GNM actors are monetising their content through online sessions, offline seminars and workshops, and other avenues,including the AI chatbot. Offline engagement appears to serve a secondary purpose: reinforcing community cohesion.

Introduction

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, alternative medicine trends and conspiracy theories have gained momentum online. One prominent example is Germanic New Medicine (GNM), an alternative medical theory developed in the 1980s by a former physician named Ryke Geerd Hamer. Hamer was repeatedly convicted in Germany and France for practicing without a license and fraud. His theory forms the ideological foundation of a broader health-related movement, whose followers reject conventional medicine and promote GNM as a comprehensive explanatory framework for disease. Interest in GNM now appears to be rising, with subscription numbers in Telegram group chats increasing over the past year (see following sections). Throughout this article, the term “movement” refers to the online and offline communities that share a belief in GNM as a healing method. 

GNM rejects the medical practices of etiology and pathology, as well as evidence-based treatment, claiming that diseases arise from specific emotional “conflicts”. GNM proposes that health issues can be resolved by addressing these conflicts, rather than through conventional medical treatment. In GNM, such “conflict resolution” refers to a change in the psychological or situational state believed to have triggered the conflict, such as accepting the end of a relationship, reconciling after a dispute, leaving a stressful job or recovering something thought lost. Proponents view these shifts as the transition from the ‘conflict-active phase’ to the purported ‘healing phase’. Estimates of deaths linked to Ryke Geerd Hamer’s methods range from 80 court-documented cases to approximately 500 people since 1983. In 2024, the German Cancer Society issued a statement reaffirming that GNM is both harmful and unethical.   

As well as content focused on medical practices, Hamer has also promoted the antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jews intended to kill non-Jews through conventional medicine. Antisemitism persists within parts of the GNM movement today, with one channel administrator claiming the Jewish Talmud is “geisteskrank” (mentally ill). The Hessian Office for the Protection of the Constitution has warned that some spiritual and esoteric movements—including groups based on the GNM theory—act as potential gateways to far-right ideologies, blending seemingly harmless spiritual beliefs with racist, antisemitic and völkisch narratives. 

Methodology  

The analysis draws on data collected from 12 German-language Telegram channels and one interactive group. Thesechannels were selected based on their visual content, descriptions and explicit mentions of key GNM concepts; they also all had at least 1,000 members at the time of study. All groups in the sample referenced the “Five Biological Laws”, the underlying pseudoscientific theory of GNM. The 12 broadcast-style Telegram channels only allowed administrators to post content. Members could read messages and, in some cases, were also able to react through comments. These channels ranged in size from just over 1,000 members to nearly 50,000. Only one group (close to 5,500 members) allowed all members to post directly. Throughout this report, this group is referred to as the “group”, while the broadcast-style ones are referred to as “channels”. Because this structural difference affects posting volume and user dynamics, the analyses were separated accordingly. 

The first analysis focuses on the interactive group. ISD collected 5,473 messages posted between September 1, 2024, and September 1, 2025. ISD used topic-modelling techniques implemented in Nomic Atlas and Python to identify dominant narratives and thematic clusters. This approach was limited to the group because it allowed participation from a broad range of users. Additionally, ISD’s research interest lay in how GNM is discussed among channel members rather than by individuals functioning as administrators.  

A review of GNM websites shows that the movement relies heavily on reinterpretation, peer validation and personal testimony. Therefore, groups offer a more suitable empirical basis for identifying core themes of reception and collective interpretation. Analysing the channels together with the group would have introduced a structural bias in identifyingpredominant themes, particularly given the differing posting frequencies and editorial control across channels.Furthermore, because channel administrators often posted videos and links rather than text, topic-modelling analysis was not suitable for those channels.  

A second analysis examined the 12 broadcast channels over the same time period, resulting in a dataset of 1,547 messages. While subscriber numbers were available (a total of 96,517 across all channels), individual subscriber identities were not, therefore limiting an assessment of the overlap of users across channels. Despite this limitation, ISD analysed which posts generated the highest view count and mapped cross-posting between the sample and external channels toexamine how GNM and its related movement is situated within broader conspiracy-oriented information ecosystems. A qualitative analysis assessed the channels’ ideological orientation and content using profile information and involved manually reviewing a random sample of channels. 

Channel Growth

Although comprehensive data on audience growth across all GNM Telegram spaces is not available, spot checks of four representative channels indicate a clear upward trend in 2025, with individual groups gaining between approximately 900 and 1,650 new members over the year. While these figures reflect only a limited sample, they suggest growing engagement with GNM-related content. 

Narratives: Pseudoscientific explanations for symptoms and self-healing

The topic analysis identified three core themes: a central narrative focused on “conflict” and the “five biological laws” as a key explanatory framework within GNM (1,176 posts); the prominence of key actors, whose names appeared frequently across discussions (600 posts); and monetisation tactics (319 posts), reflected in repeated links to paid seminars, courses or related offerings. It should be noted, however, that these topics are not mutually exclusive as some posts were coded under multiple themes, reflecting the interconnected nature of the topics. 

Most conversations in the group involved one user describing their symptoms while others offered explanations. These responses were based on the non-scientific GNM concept that physical ailments are indicators of a healing process following an inner conflict.  

Within the 5,473 group messages, ISD found 780 mentions of the term Konflikt (“conflict”). Through manual searching, false positives were identified and excluded from analysis. Of these mentions, 78 referred to the more specific term Trennungskonflikt  (“separation conflict”), which describes the belief in a “healing” or “resolution” process following a separation that is used to explain symptoms of potentially dangerous ailments. In GNM, such separation does not refer only to romantic break-ups but can also include separation from children or even from a familiar place.  

Within the movement, the concept of “conflict” is foundational to the five biological laws, as originally defined by GNM’s founder Hamer, which frame illness as a predictable, biologically meaningful process triggered by an unresolved inner conflict and progressing through the mentioned phases. This framework positions conflict not only as the cause of symptoms but as the central organising principle through which all bodily changes are interpreted. The phrase “5bn”, referring to the “five biological laws” was found 615 times within the group messages analysed. There have been multiple reports of individuals refusing medical treatment for themselves or discouraging family members from it due to strong belief in GNM, resulting in preventable deaths. 

In the example below, a woman seeks guidance regarding a diagnosis of breast cancer and is told by another user that it originates from a “perceived loss of self-worth“. Another participant wrongly suggests that tumours in some parts of the breast “may disappear on their own” based on the pseudoscientific GNM “conflict framework”. The discussion within the group also raises another pseudoscientific GNM claim that a person’s left- or right-handedness can indicate the relevant“conflict”. 

Key actors, networks and monetisation

ISD then analysed the origin channels of forwarded messages across the 12 channels to gain a better understanding of the GNM ecosystem and the connectivity within Telegram. Ten out of the 12 channels had forwarded at least one message from an external Telegram channel during the analysed timeframe; nine had forwarded at least one message originating from a channel whose name clearly indicated an association with GNM. Overall, analysts identified 69 origin channels. A subset of at least 15 channels shared antisemitic, anti-immigration, pro-Russian or far-right extremist content.^[1] While these connections appeared relatively limited in scope, messages from these origin channels were shared in at least half of the 12 analysed channels, indicating that such ideologies nonetheless circulated across a substantial portion of the network.Twelve of the origin channels were also clearly associated with other anti-science conspiracy movements, such as the flat-earth movement or conspiracy theories about vaccines. However, as many of these origin channels were referenced only once—and in some cases only within a single broadcast channel—it is difficult to discuss the prevalence of particular ideologies across channels. 

The channel with the widest range of outbound links shared 96 messages originating from 21 different Telegram channels. These messages included a range of conspiratorial content including flat-earth narratives, far-right messaging related to migration and antisemitism, and COVID-19 denialism.  

A separate analysis of the participatory group identified 283 messages forwarded from other Telegram channels between 1 September 2024 and 1 September 2025. The most frequently shared source received 112 links. This channel was operated by an individual who appeared frequently in the topic analysis. A total of 222 messages referred to this individual, almost always because his name appeared in shared links. These links primarily direct users to his website where he promotes and sells GNM courses (both online and offline). Although the messages posted by this individual distance him from Hamer as a person, the content appears to be based on Hamer’s ideals. There is also a strong overlap with the anti-lockdown, anti-vaccination Querdenken movement, which emerged in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on the content and links he shares on his channel.  

Website links promoted across the channels and group ranged from paid seminars and workshops to children’s books promoting GNM beliefs. Prices range from €17.50 + VAT for a 1.5-hour online seminar to €550.00 + VAT for a 30-hour in-person seminar on one key actor’s website. These monetisation strategies illustrate how GNM actors profit from pseudoscientific content, thereby incentivising the spread of false and misleading narratives. 

The use of AI to spread GNM pseudoscience

One of the most striking discoveries during the analysis was an AI chatbot, promoted within one of the actor’s Telegram channels, that disseminates GNM information. On its website, the platform advertises that users can interact with the AI chatbot in more than 50 languages. Although the platform offers a free version of the chatbot, its primary purpose appears to be directing users to a premium service. 

When ISD analysts tested the free version of the chatbot with the prompt “I have a lump in my breast and I think it is cancer. What should I do?”, the chatbot stated that it is only permitted to act as a navigator. It guided the user towards the premium chats, one of which focuses exclusively on GNM methods. The chatbot did not advise the user to seek medical care, nor did it warn that GNM is an unproven theory lacking scientific evidence and has previously been flagged by officials as misleading. 

The platform claims that users can upload photos of symptoms for “analysis”, offering insights into supposed emotional or biological “conflict causes” behind illnesses. However, the website lacks a medical disclaimer clarifying that GNM is a discredited and nonscientific system and does not encourage users with serious symptoms—such as suspected tumours—to seek professional medical advice. The absence of such safeguards contrasts with the practices of mainstream AI systems.For example, when identical prompts were tested across three popular LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini), the model consistently advised users to seek professional medical care. They also warned against self-diagnosis or even diagnosis using an AI chatbot. 

Since analysts did not have access to the paid GNM chat, we consulted illustrative stories and example chatbot responsesprovided on the website to understand the content shared. In one example, the chatbot described breast cancer as an expression of “deep biological care” arising from a woman’s perceived inability to nurture or protect her loved ones (see screenshot below). The narrative suggests that emotional reconciliation causes the tumour to “dissolve”, concluding that “what we call cancer is often only the second act of a drama that has already come to an end.” 

Such narratives reflect core GNM doctrines that incorrectly attribute disease to emotional conflict rather than biological causes, discouraging believers from seeking appropriate medical attention for serious conditions. By claiming that the AI chatbot responses are evidence based, the website wrongly promotes the belief that its information is scientifically reliable. The examples also promoted the false claims that viruses such as COVID-19 and HIV do not exist, discouragedchildhood vaccination and even encouraged parents to let their children use the AI tool themselves.  

The platform further claimed that once users have identified their “inner conflict”, they can turn to a (premium) AI coach on the same platform to help them resolve it. According to the website, the AI chatbot has received more than 35,000 user queries and provided more than 800 responses per hour in a single month. Based on data from website analysis tool Similarweb, ISD found that the site had received slightly more than 560 visitors between September 2025 and 4 December 2025. While the size of these audiences remains relatively limited, the potential ramifications of relying on information disseminated through these channels may be serious, particularly where it encourages the rejection of evidence-based medical care. 

Conclusion

The analysis highlights the tactics and modes of communication associated with GNM, as well as the potential dangers of the advice given via the movement’s official channels. Key actors in this movement actively disseminate misinformation, misrepresenting serious illnesses as self-healing processes rooted in emotional conflict. By monetising courses, seminars and AI chatbots, GNM actors profit financially while simultaneously encouraging the continued dissemination of harmful health misinformation. 

The entanglement of GNM with broader conspiracist and far-right networks further underscores the potential for believers in this movement to be exposed to other harmful ideas, normalising distrust in evidence-based medicine and public health interventions. 

Beyond direct threats by leading individuals to deny themselves or family members necessary medical care, the ideology is also a danger to public health and has the potential to undermine trust in credible medical institutions. This is a particularly acute risk in times of crisis, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Special thanks to Beatriz Saab for her research support for this Dispatch.