Kim Kardashian has been labelled “tone-deaf” after she promoted a costly full-body scan that she described as “life-saving”.
On 8 August, the 42-year-old reality star posted a series of photos of herself standing next to a Prenuvo machine following her scan. The Skims shapewear mogul made it clear that, while her post wasn’t an ad, she wanted to share how beneficial the technology was at detecting preliminary stages of certain diseases.
“I recently did this @prenuvo scan and had to tell you all about this life-saving machine,” she wrote. “The Prenuvo full-body scan has the ability to detect cancer and diseases such as aneurysms in its earliest stages, before symptoms arise.”
The second oldest Kardashian sister also alleged that she’s not the only one who has found the MRI, which costs $2,500, according to Prenuvo’s website, useful. She described the machine as having “really saved” some of her friends.
“It was like getting a MRI for an hour with no radiation,” Kardashian proclaimed. “It has really saved some of my friends’ lives and I just wanted to share.”
On Prenuvo’s website, it describes the “comprehensive” scan as being able to “assesses your anatomy, including major organs and spines,” and being capable of detecting “solid tumours 1.5cm or larger,” “malignant cancer compared to benign conditions such as cysts, hematoma, hemangiomas and absecesses,” and “potentially treatable brain aneurysms”.
According to the website, the full-body scan can also detect risk factors of stroke and “evidence of any previous strokes,” as well as disc herniation, spinal cord abnormalities, fatty liver disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), and “musculoseketal conditions”.
After discovering the steep cost of the scan, Kardashian’s followers responded critically to her “non-advertisement,” with many accusing The Kardashians star of being “tone-deaf” and unaware of her financial privilege.
“Kim this is for wealthy people. People can’t afford food right now,” one person commented.
“The fact the majority of society can’t even afford insurance for a simple wellness checkup,” another individual added.
Someone else wrote: “This is SO tone-deaf. The majority of people in America could not afford to use this machine. The fact that she’s promoting medical devices that cost thousands is so ridiculous.”
Another critic said that many people would not be able to afford the cost of the “preventative care,” while claiming it would be unlikely that the scan would be covered by most health insurance companies. “Unfortunately us regular people can’t afford this type of preventative care. Most insurances won’t cover this,” they wrote.
“I’m a fan of the Kardashians but Kim shut the f*** up. Most people can’t afford to go to urgent care. This is so f***ing tone-deaf,” one critic wrote, while another said: “Love a billionaire recommending preventative care that is totally inaccessible to 98 per cent of your fan base, total vibe.”
As of now, the entrepreneur has not responded to the criticism from her followers.
The Independent has contacted a representative for Kardashian for comment.
Kardashian’s health-focused post came after she revealed on her Instagram Story on Monday that she was recovering from a shoulder and tendon injury. “I broke my shoulder and tore the tendon so I’ve been out of the gym a few weeks but I’m back,” she wrote. The cause of injury was not revealed.
