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FDA Warns Supplement Makers To Stop Touting Cures For Diseases and Cancer
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: The Food and Drug Administration on Monday warned 12 sellers of dietary supplements to stop claiming their products can cure diseases ranging from Alzheimer's to cancer to diabetes. At the same time, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the agency's commissioner, suggested that Congress strengthen the F.D.A.'s authority over an estimated $40 billion industry, which sells as many as 80,000 kinds of powders and pills with little federal scrutiny. These products range from benign substances like vitamin C or fish oil to more risky mineral, herbal and botanical concoctions that can be fatal.
"People haven't wanted to touch this framework or address this space in, really, decades, and I think it's time we do it," Dr. Gottlieb said in an interview. He is particularly concerned about supplements that purport to cure diseases for which consumers should seek medical attention. "We know there are effective therapies that can help patients with Alzheimer's," he said. "But unproven supplements that claim to treat the disease but offer no benefits can prevent patients from seeking otherwise effective care." The companies included TEK Naturals, Pure Nootropics and Sovereign Laboratories. In a letter to TEK Naturals, the F.D.A. and the Federal Trade Commission chastised the company for marketing Mind Ignite as a product "clinically shown to help diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer's and even dementia."
"People haven't wanted to touch this framework or address this space in, really, decades, and I think it's time we do it," Dr. Gottlieb said in an interview. He is particularly concerned about supplements that purport to cure diseases for which consumers should seek medical attention. "We know there are effective therapies that can help patients with Alzheimer's," he said. "But unproven supplements that claim to treat the disease but offer no benefits can prevent patients from seeking otherwise effective care." The companies included TEK Naturals, Pure Nootropics and Sovereign Laboratories. In a letter to TEK Naturals, the F.D.A. and the Federal Trade Commission chastised the company for marketing Mind Ignite as a product "clinically shown to help diseases of the brain such as Alzheimer's and even dementia."
That was from the linked NYT article and scared me! Fortunately it seems that that's in referral to the seizures from a couple of years ago. There were so many complaints from satisfied customers that the FDA relented. P.S. I'm not affiliated with any companies selling Kratom, nor do I have any financial interest in it.
Theanine is generally recognized to work as advertised, and to be reasonably safe at the recommended doses. It's in tea. Same deal with Kava Kava, it was the extraction from the wrong part of the wrong plants that affected a very few people. CBD oil is now legal, thus a supplement, and its grateful users would be livid if anyone tried to deny them its benefits. It's amazing how many herbal supplements are out there that have been taken for thousands of years for specific purposes that modern analysis now can confirm as being due to specific chemical components. Safe use has always been a consideration, and that along with the BS claims of some is where the FDA should focus.
You could just make it illegal to scam people, you know?
As in lying about the properties of your product, claiming things that you have no evidence are true, and advertising features or advantages your product does not actually have.
But you guys dug yourself a deep grave the day some idiots in robes decided that corporations are people and thus the first amendment applies to them and now they can spread whatever lies they want and say "free speech".
The simple rule "advertisement must be truthful" would kill all this bullshit instantly. But I guess free speech for profit-based legal entities is more important than not scamming people.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
The FDA has somewhat strict labeling guidelines for supplement makers, in that they're not supposed to say that the supplement cures a specific disease or condition. "Label" extends to websites and advertisements as well.
That said, the FDA doesn't actively scan the world for structure/function claim violations. Even then, it's unclear what authority the FDA has when it comes to actually prosecuting structure/function claim violations.
You would think that those would fall under the FTC, not the FDA, since structure/function claims really are more false advertising.
FYI, the downside to structure/function claims is that there's apparently no process or criteria for showing that your structure/function claim is actually valid. The FDA will back down if you register your claim, though, which is more confusing.
It's harmless until someone tries to cure cancer with sugar pills.
It's sad to watch people die that don't need to because they fell for some bullshit peddlers.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
In the UK if you claim to cure a disease then you are a medicine and have to regulated
If you claim to cure cancer then this is a special case ... your product is illegal and you will be shut down and fined
Puteulanus fenestra mortis