U.S. Food and Drug Agency Cracks the Whip on Deceptive Alternative Medicine Companies

U.S. Food and Drug Agency Cracks the Whip on Deceptive Alternative Medicine Companies

By E. Stanley Ukeni

The United States Food and Drug Agency (FDA) has just listed fourteen companies that the agency claims are engaged in deceptive and potentially harmful trade practices. The government regulatory oversight agency detailed on its website a number of false and fraudulent curative claims made by these companies about their products—which consists of herbal remedies, tinctures, food and herbal supplements, teas and salves.

Although many homeopathic and herbal and food supplement companies routinely make outlandish claims about their products, a relatively few cross the line of legality by stating or suggesting that their products can cure ailments.

These fourteen companies that the FDA has singled out with a stern warning have been skirting the law quite flagrantly by claiming that their herbal products and other treatments they offer are able to treat, or prevent, cancer. These claims of cancer cure cannot be empirically substantiated and as such the claims are questionable at best.

It is quite understandable that cancer sufferers are often willing to try anything that offers a promise of a cure, but it is wrong for alternative pseudo-medical practitioners to exploit their desperation for a cure. And the government must step in where this predatory practice is detected.  I hope leaders in Africa, South America and Asia are taking heed.

This link will take you to the United States Food and Drug Agency webpage where these companies are listed; https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ProtectYourself/HealthFraud/ucm533465.htm

It is not just American consumers who should be concerned about this warning; there are consumers all over the world who erroneously believe that since the manufacturers of the products are in America the products must be effective and safe as claimed by its makers. So everyone who use, or is contemplating using, alternative herbal and food supplements should definitely check through the FDA website provided.

Due to the globalization of trade, and the proliferation of the internet commerce, this warning is not mere restricted to American consumers; it should be a worldwide concern. So everyone should check to make sure that you have not unwittingly fallen victim to the sham claims of these listed companies.

They often circumvent the law by placing disclaimers, in fine prints, on their adverts that make bold claims about their product’s curative potential. This is a deceptive marketing ploy, and now unacceptable practice according to FDA. As many of us know all too well, most of us don’t even bother to read the fine prints on labels or in ads, and these companies take advantage of this fact.   

These companies are all too aware that it is illegal in the United States to claim that a product can cure ailments without substantiating such claims to be true through an FDA established scientific process.

Just in case the thought crosses your mind that the folks behind these companies truly believe that their products and services work, and are altruistically bringing to the public effective remedies that established commercial pharmaceutical companies seek to suppress. No, that’s not the case. These people are driven by a desire to tap into the thirty billion dollars a year alternative therapy market in the United States. They are, more often than not,  motivated by greed and not by a desire too help.  

They are out to take advantage of the tendency of a sizable portion of the American, and indeed the global, consumer base to believe that natural cures and treatments are more effective and less invasive than the remedies developed by established pharmaceutical firms. 

The United States Food and Drug Agency has issued a deadline for these companies to comply with its orders or face punitive sanctions, which may include, but are not limited to, fines and legal prosecutions.

The message from the FDA to consumers is that they should be aware that most of these herbal and food supplements in the market today have not gone through rigorous clinical test process to properly establish their effectiveness and proper dosage. They warn that some of these supplements may actually contain ingredients which may be harmful to human health.

If you insist, after reading this article, to try out any number of herbal or food supplements out there, you should be mindful that the ingredients used to make some of these supplements may adversely interact with professionally-prescribed pharmaceutical medicines. Taking these products, without professional medical supervision, could actually endanger your life. Be sure that you are not on any pharmaceutical medication while taking alternative medicines of any kind.   

Authored by E. Stanley Ukeni, © 2017. All Rights Reserved. This material and other articles or stories posted on this blog site may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed, in whole or in part, without prior expressed written permission from the author, E. Stanley Ukeni.

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Photo Credit: FDA