Anyone care to comment?
Leo
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>From "FDAnews Daily Bulletin" for February 27, 2002:
FTC CRACKS DOWN ON BOGUS BIOHAZARD TESTS, TREATMENTS
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has settled enforcement actions
against the marketer of a home test kit for anthrax and the purveyor of
a colloidal silver product purported to treat anthrax. "These companies
used inaccurate and unfounded claims to sell peace of mind," J. Howard
Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said Feb.
27. "They tried to cash in on consumer anxiety about bioterrorism."
The FTC enforcement actions are part of a larger probe of internet-based
companies marketing bogus products that take advantage of consumers who
have grown fearful of bioterrorism. Since mid-November, the FTC has sent
121 warning letters to marketers of bioterrorism-related products
discovered during a coordinated surf of the internet by the FTC, the FDA
and more than 30 state attorneys general. Beales said that 50 of the 121
warning letters involved products related to the detection or treatment
of anthrax.
In one action, Vital Living Products and its president, Donald
Podrebarac, entered into an agreement to settle charges that they
deceptively advertised a do-it-yourself method to detect anthrax
bacteria and spores in the air, water and on surfaces. Beales called the
claims "pure bunk."
In the other action, Kris Pletschke, operator of the web site
"rawhealth.net," signed a consent agreement with the FTC that prohibits
him from making deceptive and misleading therapeutic claims for
colloidal silver or any other health-related products. Beales said the
FTC ordered Pletschke to offer full refunds to all consumers who
purchased colloidal silver.
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* Eric S. Hoy, Ph.D., SI(ASCP)
* Clinical Associate Professor
* Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences
* The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
* Email: eric....@utsouthwestern.edu
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The opinions expressed here are mine alone, do not reflect the opinions
of any employer, cost you nothing, and are probably worth what you paid
for them.
**I may have been born at night, but it wasn't LAST night!**
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