The FTC ordered 20 marketers to stop making baseless claims on their websites and social media that their products and services can prevent or treat COVID-19.
Many of the products and services under scrutiny by the FTC are the same ones we've covered many times here at SBM when sold for other diseases and conditions. They are offered by hucksters who range from those who have no apparent education and training in medical science, to well-educated and well-trained physicians.
The FTC advises recipients of cease-and-desist letters.
to review all other claims [in addition to COVID] for your products and immediately cease and desist from making claims that are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. You must immediately cease and desist making all such claims.
Even though the targeted COVID claims may have been taken down, the plethora of dubious remedies still exist.
It is illegal because of the FTC Act.
to advertise that a product can prevent, treat, or cure human disease unless you possess competent and reliable scientific evidence, including substantiating that the claims are true at the time they are made.
No evidence exists for the products and services marketed for COVID.
We will look at some of the recent cease-and-desist letters and see how the same old quackery has been rejiggered to meet the demands of a modern epidemic. Similar claims for other diseases and conditions are still marketed to the public by the same people. We will focus on letters sent to physicians, who should know better, as well as a few people who seem to be practicing medicine without a license.
If I didn't tell you about it, I wouldn't be able to get to these people.
AshNu Technologies is a Canadian outfit that offers memberships and equipment. These were advertised to prevent or treat COVID-19.
What are ICs? You will not be surprised to learn that many quack remedies work by stimulating the body's own healing abilities. Specifically.
ICs are electromagnetic signals that are generated using algorithms or recorded from substances that have healing, therapeutic, or other biological effects.
There is a video that explains the QED Theory.
Here you will learn how water is able to mimic the electromagnetic spectrum of diluted substances as well as how one can record and store these electromagnetic signals – thus, creating ICs from active substances.
You can either transfer the ICs to your body via a gizmo, or you can apply the gizmo directly to your body. Other gizmos for sale do the same thing.
AshNu offered an IC that looked like a cure.
was made with the help of a highly diluted solution of an mRNA-based vaccine. It may be used to help ease side effects and adverse reactions from the vaccine.
The FTC told them to stop making such claims.
AshNu removed its reference to COVID-19 for this product, but still offers in IC form.
Chlorine dioxide solution, also known as miracle mineral solution (MMS), [which] has been used as an alternative means to manage various conditions such as arthritis, cold/flu, malaria, hepatitis, measles, herpes, cancer, HIV, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Additionally, it has been used to improve oral and dental health.
Dozens of supplements and other substances are being transformed into ICs via this technology without penalty.
We will turn to the more serious problem because of that idioticquantum.
In a post titled 2020 and the Pandemic: A Year of (Some) Physicians Behaving Badly, our own Dr. David Gorski lamented.
the character of too many physicians has been found wanting, as they spent 2020 denying the pandemic, peddling quack cures, or spreading misinformation in the service of defying public health interventions.
A few more physicians received warnings from the FTC recently. This isn't the first time a bunch of doctors has run afoul of the FTC Act for promoting COVID treatments lacking competent and reliable scientific evidence.
Brandon Mack M.D., an anesthesiologist, is the owner of IVita Drip Therapy, which has clinics in Wyoming and Kansas offering IV drips from various vitamins, minerals, pharmaceutical drugs and such. His website no longer advertises his blend after the FTC letter.
a powerhouse of immunity boosting Vitamin C, along with other essential elements working together to strengthen immune responses to serious viral illness….
His other treatments, equally supported by adequate scientific evidence, remain on offer.
The FTC said that a medical practice called "Pretty Healthy NYC" advertised on their website.
To help in the fight against coronavirus, my practice offers IV Vitamin C and Glutathione, along with a wide range of preventative and treatment-based infusion protocols, individually customized for each patient’s needs. These IV treatments are offered in our office or in the patient’s home.
Christina Cuomo, wife of now-cancelled CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, rang up one of the physicians at Pretty Healthy NYC. In a display of privilege that was criticized in the press, Dr. Namavar administered an at- home using what is quoted in the FTC's cease-and-desist demand.
magnesium, NAC (a precursor to glutathione, said to be very helpful against COVID-19), vitamin C with lysine, proline, and B complex, folic acid, zinc, selenium, glutathione and caffeine (to combat the headache).
Doctors and nurses working in NYC hospitals were scrambling for PPE when Dr. Namavar showed up in full hazmat gear.
Again, these things don't happen in a vacuum and there is still a lot of nonsense on the website. One of her partners is an M.D.
to help rebalance your body, bring it back into homeostasis, and enhance cellular signaling.
They practice functional medicine, which they advertise.
Based on the results of your lab work, genetics, and symptoms, we suggest different options that elevate distinct aspects of your mood, lifestyle, and health.
The FTC cited Idaho D.O.s Christopher Peine and Peter Abraham for their promotion of low dose immunotherapy. Their novel was discovery.
that the body was actually responding to the COVID-19 proteins (viruses are not living organisms and are not dangerous to humans by themselves) and if we could tell the immune system to “tolerate” this protein, then we could stop the inflammatory response. . . . I decided to try this technique [previously used to “promote ‘immune tolerance’ to proteins that trigger allergies, autoimmune conditions, and inflammation”] for COVID-19 in the spring of 2020 with a mixture of coronavirus proteins from old strains of the virus.
What about the results?
[S]o far, knock on wood, every patient I’ve tried it on has gotten better. Pretty much, either full resolution or near resolution, within literally hours to days.
They don't have competent and reliable scientific evidence to support their claims and must stop. Despite the FTC's warning to review all of their claims, the clinic continues to offer LDI for chronic fatigue, endometriosis, and other conditions. They also practice functional medicine.
Matthew Barker, a letter recipient from the D.O and FTC, claimed that he could boost his immune system by using osteopathic manipulation. He claimed that was even more alarming.
all-natural herbal tea from Wei Labs may help prevent the Coronavirus from infecting individuals through immediate germ removal and immune support. The ingredients work together to remove germs from the throat, respiratory tract, and heart. At the same [sic], enhancing and supporting the immune system….”
The FTC wrote about the teas and other concoctions that were advertised as preventatives and treatments. The company's website explains that the SARS-CoV2 virus is viewed as Cold by Traditional Chinese Medicine. The National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine has claimed that one of its herbal formulas has more than a 90% effective rate in the treatment of patients with corona.
The FTC sent a letter to Kokalis, who has aTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkiaTrademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia.Trademarkia She was warned to cease and desist from making claims that are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence, and to review all claims for all products she sells or is paid to promote.
Tracy Gapin is a urologist and head of the Gapin Institute for Elite Health and Performance. Dr. Gapin was warned against advertising the power of peptides for boosting your immune system.
The head of a Texas nurse anesthetist and an outfit that specializes in lifestyle enhancement got a letter warning after being caught in the FTC's net. He sells therapies like testosterone replacement therapy monthly memberships. I don't know how these are within a nurse anesthetist's scope of practice in Texas.
Dr. Monica Sava received a letter from the FTC for selling things.
a very powerful tincture set [$500 for four tinctures!] that has now worked [for COVID] on a ton of people. And I do have a supplement protocol to boost your immune system. Aside from the fact that people taking my basic antiviral and medicinal Mushrooms have been healthy all year.
Sava seems to be practicing medicine without a license in Connecticut. She offersHolistic Immune andLyme Healing, which involves taking a health history and addressing various health issues.
Tim Pendry does not have a license to practice health care or have any training in medicine. He was free to give medical advice on the prevention and treatment of COVID, including the use of colloidal silver and supplements, and his unfavorable analysis of vaccines and pharmaceutical drugs. He still gives advice on topics like when is the right time to take a Statin based on blood work results, even though the FTC told him to stop.
The FTC is fighting the problem and we should be happy, but quackery was not invented during the epidemic. There seems to have been a much more aggressive effort to fight COVID quackery than there was to fight neuroscience or stem cell quackery. Regulators need to take a moreholistic approach to the problem by disciplining physicians and other professionals who promote all sorts of nonsense as well as enforcing laws against practicing medicine without a license. The standard of care should be dumbed down by the laws that allow quackery, like the DSHEA and the naturopathic practice acts. The VA, medical schools, and other organizations should stop promotingcomplementary, alternative and integrative medicine, which encourages belief in unscientific gibberish. Had the government and other institutions not been enamored with the public withintegrative medicine, it wouldn't have had such a fertile field.
There are links to all FTC COVID-19 warning letters in the press release. Links to the offending websites are provided in the letters. I have not added links to the individual warning letters or the offending materials in this post, as there are so many and they are easily available from the FTC's list. I checked to see if any of the offending claims have been removed. I didn't check to see if the individuals or companies had responded to the FTC.
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