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Consumer Health Digest #08-04
January 22, 2008
Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by
Stephen Barrett, M.D., and cosponsored by NCAHF and Quackwatch. It
summarizes scientific reports; legislative developments; enforcement
actions; news reports; Web site evaluations; recommended and
nonrecommended books; and other information relevant to consumer
protection and consumer decision-making.
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Quackwatch and Dr. Barrett need your help.
If you haven't already done so, please read
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support our work.
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MLM recruiting techniques laid bare.
John Taylor, MBA, PhD, who operates the Consumer Awareness Institute
http://www.mlm-thetruth.com/, has done a detailed analysis of the
sales pitches used to persuade people to join multilevel marketing
companies. These companies claim that fortunes can be made by
recruiting distributors and getting commissions on their sales.
However, he has found -- industrywide -- that over 99% of new
distributors lose money and that MLM recruiters hide the near-zero
odds of making a profit.
[Taylor J. Typical MLM misrepresentations. MLM Watch, Jan 23, 2008]
http://www.mlmwatch.org/01General/misrepresentations.html The Federal Trade Commission has proposed a Business Opportunity Rule to
force disclosure of true income potential, but the MLM industry is
fighting tooth-and-nail to stop implementation of the rule.
http://www.mlmwatch.org/06FTC/business_opportunity/comments.html Last year, on behalf of the industry, more than 50 Congressional
representatives and three former high-ranking FTC officials asked the
FTC to develop "an alternative proposal that achieves the FTC's
desired goals while not adversely affecting legitimate business
interests." The Proposed Rule would do exactly that, but MLM leaders
know that honest disclosure would decimate their industry. Because
MLMs have deceived millions of people, the proposed rule is one the
most important consumer-protection measures the agency has ever
considered.
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"Cancer cure" investment schemer pleads guilty.
Richard A. Anders has pled guilty to one count of securities fraud
for which he could be imprisoned for up to 10 years. The scheme
involved marketing a company known as Helvetia Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Helvetia's business plan described its company's "primary business"
as the delivery of a novel treatment called intracellular
hyperthermia therapy (ICHT). The plan claimed that Nicholas
Bachynsky, M.D., a Mayo Clinic-trained physician with a Ph.D. in
chemistry, had developed a method to induce safe, practical
intracellular hyperthermia. However, it did not disclose that the
Bachynsky's license had been revoked and that ICHT is extremely
dangerous.
[Barrett S. Stay away from Nicholas Bachynsky and Intra-Cellular
Hyperthermia (ICHT). Quackwatch, Jan 23, 2008]
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/Cancer/icht.html The plan's promoters promised investment returns of 200% to 600%.
More than 50 people invested, with total losses exceeding $5 million.
In his plea agreement, Anders agreed to recommend that he serve the
10-year maximum prison term and to pay full restitution to his
victims. His sentencing is set for April 11, 2008. Two other
co-defendants, Arthur Scheinert and Laurence Dean, already have pled
guilty and received 5-year sentences. Bachynsky is scheduled for
trial in February.
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Courts getting tougher on spurious thimerosal-autism link. Following
a ten-day evidentiary hearing, a Maryland Circuit Court judge has
precluded the testimony of five expert witnesses offered to support
the plaintiffs' claim that their son's autism was caused by
thimerosal-containing vaccines. [Berger SR. Memorandum opinion.
Blackwell v. Sigma Aldrich, Inc. et al., Circuit Court for Baltimore
City, Case No. 24-C-04-004829, Dec 21, 2007]
http://www.casewatch.org/civil/blackwell/memo.pdf This paves the way for dismissal of the suit against Sigma Aldrich, Inc.,
Wyeth, Inc., Eli Lilly & Company, Baltimore Gas & Electric, Constellation
Power Source Generation, American International Chemical, Spectrum
Laboratory Products, and Merck & Company. The excluded experts were:
**Boyd E. Haley, Ph.D., a chemistry professor at the University of Kentucky.
**Richard C. Deth, Ph.D., a pharmacology professor at Northeastern University
**Elizabeth A. Mumper, M.D., a Virginia pediatrician
**Stephen Siebert, M.D., MPH, a forensic psychiatrist from Maryland
**Mark R. Geier, MD, PhD, president of Genetic Centers of America,
who has been involved in many similar cases
The judge concluded that "thimerosal in vaccines does not cause or
contribute to neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism" and that
he knew of no case in which a proffered expert was permitted to offer
"a novel causation opinion that directly contradicts every generally
accepted epidemiological study addressing the issue of causation."
During the past few years, similar opinions have been issued in
several other cases.
[Seidel K. The autism-vaccine courtroom knockout team. Neurodiversity
weblog, Jan 23, 2008]
http://neurodiversity.com/weblog/article/141/ Geier's testimony has been rebuffed in at least a dozen cases.
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Other issues of the Digest are accessible through
http://www.ncahf.org/digest08/index.htmlFor information about the National Council Against Health Fraud, see
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Board Chairman, Quackwatch, Inc.
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