Don’t Be Fooled By Health Fraud Scams

 

From the FDA site (click here to read entire article)

Red Flags for Fraud:

• CURE ALL! For unrelated diseases
• QUICK FIX! Within days
• ANCIENT REMEDY! Or a secret formula
• REVOLUTIONARY! Or new science
• AMAZING RESULTS! Difficult to verify
• MY TUMOR SHRUNK! Unproven testimonials
• ACT NOW! Limited availability
• LOSE WEIGHT! No diet or exercise
• MONEY-BACK GUARANTEE!

Visit FDA’s Health Fraud Scams Website!

 

 

The science of public health was still in its infancy in the 19th and early 20th centuries when early incarnations of the modern Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tried to protect consumers from “snake oil salesmen” and other shifty characters who swindled the sick and gullible.

Back then the agency was known as the Division, and later the Bureau of Chemistry. Its agents pursued the traveling con men who sold tonics and elixirs—such as “miracle oil” supposedly made from snakes—with promises to cure whatever ails you. Labels did not list ingredients and unsuspecting buyers only found out through bitter experience that they were at best ineffective and at worse deadly.

FDA is still on the case—more than a century later.

The agency has created a new Internet resource to help consumers recognize and protect themselves from the 21st century versions of these bogus health products.

FDA’s Health Fraud Scams website (www.fda.gov/healthfraud) pulls together videos and articles on how to avoid fraudulent schemes, and offers information about products that have been seized, recalled or are the subject of warnings from the agency.

The site also provides links to government resources on health fraud involving FDA-regulated products, such as drugs, dietary supplements, tobacco products, alternative medicines, medical devices, and cosmetics.

Gary Coody, R.Ph., national health fraud coordinator at FDA, calls the site “one-stop shopping” for people who want to learn how to recognize and avoid health fraud scams. Anyone can search the site to see if FDA has taken an action against a product or company. However, just because a product is not listed does not mean that it is legally marketed or safe to use……..

Related articles

• Officials: Several Arrested In Health Care Fraud Ring Bust (newyork.cbslocal.com)
• PCMA — Anti-Fraud Group Spotlights Policies that Promote Health Care Fraud and Abuse (prweb.com)