The Spread of Consumer Health Fraud

There are a lot many promotions for fraudulent health products. They are seen everywhere- newspapers, magazines, television and on the internet. The products and services which are sold through the internet or in stores are advertised heavily. Millions of dollars are spent by the non profit organizations on many fraudulent products. The consumers are allured by the products and are a victim to it. They are cheated and the products instead of curing them do more harm to their body.

Health frauds are described as articles of unproven effectiveness by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). These articles are promoted to improve the well being and the health and it can be drugs, foods, devices or cosmetics. The oversight of health fraud products is shared by the FDA with the Federal Trade Commission. Safety, product labeling and manufacturing is regulated by the FDA. It claims package inserts. The advertisements are regulated by the FDA. Some effective remedies will protect the consumers from the health fraud and FDC is committed to obtain these remedies for them. Commission is empowered to prevent unfair practices by the provisions of the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTC) to prevent false advertisements for foods, drugs and services. They not only prohibit false advertisements but also see that if the marketing is claiming about the safety of a product then it must be backed by a scientific proof. Usually the scientific evidences consist of tests and studies that have been conducted according to the standards set by the experts in that field.

FTC is able to come up with only a few suspected companies which are into marketing health products. The factors which are considered in selecting them are:

• The products or services safety.

• The marketing for the product is a treatment or a cure for some serious disease.

• The claims egregiousness.

• The sales of the products and its scope of marketing.

• To what extent can a particular case serve the commission’s industry compliance and the mission of consumer education?

Operation Cure All was an effort launched by the FTC in 1999 in which FTC, Health Canada, FDA and other state health departments are partners. A Law enforcement effort is combined with a consumer education campaign and it brings legal cases against companies which do marketing for unapproved drugs, supplements and health related products. Some marketers marked their products as safe when they were actually harmful to one’s body and had dangerous side effects.

FDA and FTC have struggled a lot against health fraud since the launch of operation cure. 12 products have been seized, 11 products have been recalled and there have been 43 arrests and 22 convictions since when FDA has been curtailing online marketing of unapproved drugs. There have been more than 80 health fraud incidences which have been investigated by the FDA.

It has been recently found out that in the United States around 100 million people find health information through the internet. This information is more about the health products that advertise wrong information. Such advertisements are dangerous and illegal. 13 law enforcement actions were brought by the FDC against people who were marketing for unsubstantiated health claims. There was one product which resulted in a settlement of $1 million with the shark cartilage product makers as a cure for cancer. Consumer refunds for electronic devices were required in another settlement and herbal remedies were also there which were a cure for many diseases like AIDS, Cancer, Gulf War Syndrome, etc. it was required that they remove their false claims from the web. FTC also says that after it has contacted the web sites more than 100 web sites have removed such type of content from their sites.

Similar claims have been used by the promoters of the fraudulent health-care products in order to lure the consumers for buying their product. Consumers as advised by the FTC and FDA have to be suspicious of:

• The product should claim that it is natural or non toxic and should also not have any side effects. Natural always does not mean safe. There are some potent stimulants in the natural supplements which can result in an interaction with the medicine which is negative.

• People who claim amazing results should write testimonials which are undocumented and are not substitutes for some scientific proof.

• They should claim that the product is a miraculous cure, an ancient remedy, scientific breakthrough or a secret ingredient.

• It should also claim that it is an effective for many ailments.

• Some impressive sounding medical terms should be used.

• You should claim that the availability of the product is only through one source and that the payment is required well in advance.

• There should be a money-back guarantee.

• You should be careful of the websites which do not mention the company’s name, its address, the phone number and some other contact details.

A medical professional should be immediately contacted by any person who has been a victim to the health frauds. Someone who is a qualified attorney can help the victim to determine if any legal cases should be made that can help them to recover their losses or it can also compensate for any negative effects on their health.