But now, from defamation to alleged deceit - and the cautionary tale of the cancer survivor whose miraculous recovery may not be quite what it seemed.

23 year-old Belle Gibson become a social media star, by apparently overcoming: a terminal brain tumour and cancer in her blood, spleen, uterus and liver.

And amazingly she did it by shunning conventional treatment, and embracing alternative therapies plus good old fashion nutrition.

From this inspirational story of death defying courage came:

A 'wellness app' with Apple.

A wholefood cookbook with Penguin.

Plus wealth, fame, and morning TV.

ANDREW O'KEEFE: Belle Gibson is a mother, a businesswoman and she's also living with brain cancer. But the 25-year-old has turned her cancer diagnosis into a positive, believe it or not. She's created the world's first health, wellness and lifestyle app, The Whole Pantry ... SAMANTHA ARMYTAGE: For a person living with brain cancer, might I add, you look incredibly healthy. — Channel Seven, Sunrise, 28th February, 2014

But last week cracks appeared in Belle's story when Fairfax reported that money she'd promised to charities from The Whole Pantry's profits was nowhere to be seen :

Ms Gibson has publicly claimed to have given away 25 per cent of her company's profits and in her book writes that "a large part of everything" earned is donated to various causes. ... Ms Gibson was unable to provide a list of organisations that have received money or say how much has been donated to date. — Sydney Morning Herald, 8th March, 2015

And soon after, when The Australian's Richard Guilliat followed up with an exclusive, Belle's dream world began to fall apart:

POLICE have visited the Melbourne home of Belle Gibson after revelations that her claims she had cancer - which she used to create a wellness empire - may have been false. ... The Australian has been told that a number of people in Ms Gibson's inner circle confronted her last year and demanded documentary proof of her various cancers, which she failed to produce. — The Australian, 11th March, 2015

By then Gibson had admitted she does not have cancer of the blood, spleen, uterus or liver and that these were a 'misdiagnosis' by her doctor. And a former friend has told Fairfax :

"I asked her when she got her diagnosis, she said she didn't know. I asked her who gave her the diagnosis, she said Dr Phil. I asked if Dr Phil had a last name she didn't know, he disappeared ..." — Sydney Morning Herald, 10th March, 2015

Fairfax also quoted Professor Kaye, director of neurosurgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, expressing similar doubt about her five year survival from terminal brain cancer.

"There is the very occasional case out of many, many thousands that may have a spontaneous regression ... but I have never seen that," ... "I wouldn't believe any of this unless I saw the pathology report with my own eyes and the pathology itself." — Sydney Morning Herald, 10th March, 2015

Now what's remarkable about Belle's remarkable story is that no one who swallowed it apparently bothered to check it was true.

Not the publishers at Penguin.

Nor the chaps at Apple.

Nor a parade of media admirers at

The Sunday Telegraph,

News.com.au,

Cosmopolitan,

Australian Women's Health,

Marie Claire,

Elle,

And Channel Seven's Sunrise among others.

So when you see a story like this in future, whether you're a journalist or a reader, it's worth remembering this tip from the ABC's health expert Dr Norman Swan, who told Media Watch:

The general rule in health and medical journalism is the same as any other form of journalism, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. — Dr Norman Swan, Presenter, Health Report, ABC RN, 13th March, 2015

And the latest news is that Ms Gibson has removed all posts about her health from social media hired herself a lawyer and promised an open letter to explain everything.

The Whole Pantry meanwhile says it is 'processing' those missing donations to charity. So we'll watch with interest.