Is "rock dust" proven, peer-reviewed and reproduced or is it some pet-theory of an academic or two? Because one thing I've noticed especially over the past two

Is "rock dust" proven, peer-reviewed and reproduced or is it some pet-theory of an academic or two? Because one thing I've noticed especially over the past two years of covid research, once some PhD seems to vapor-lock onto a single substance as a "miracle cure" they can write endlessly, breathlessly about it without mentioning a single downside or limitation.