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Consumer Health Digest #08-34
August 19, 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
http://www.ncahf.org/digest07/07-48.html and
send a contribution to support our work.
###
Mannatech claims attacked.
Ronald L. Schnaar, Ph.D. (a prominent pharmacologist)
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/schnaar and Hudson H. Freeze, Ph.D. (a
prominent glycobiology researcher)
http://www.burnham.org/default.asp?contentID=143 have accused
Mannatech of making unwarranted claims for its "glyconutrient"
(sugar-based) products. [Schnaar RL, Freeze HH. A "glyconutrient
sham." Glycobiology 18:652-657, 2008]. Mannatech suggests that these
products can help consumers achieve optimal health and that their use
is supported by scientific research. However, the researchers have
concluded that except for rare patients with certain types of
congenital disorders, no well-designed studies have demonstrated that
humans can benefit clinically from ingesting the key ingredients in
the products. They also note that some studies that Mannatech cites
are legitimate but have no relevance to it health claims. In 2007,
the Texas Attorney General accused Mannatech of violating the Texas
Deceptive Practices Act by encouraging and allowing their
distributors to make claims that mislead consumers into believing
that the supplements dramatically cure or treat serious illnesses.
[State of Texas vs. Mannatech Incorporated, Manna Relief Industries,
The Fisher Institute, Samuel L. Caster, and Reginald McDaniel.
District Court of Travis County, Cause No. D-1-GV-07-001386, filed
July 5, 2007]
http://www.casewatch.org/ag/tx/mannatech/complaint.pdf That case is still pending.
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Airborne settles with FTC.
Airborne Health, Inc., of Bonita Springs, Florida has agreed to pay
up to $30 million to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that
could not substantiate advertising claims for its alleged cold
remedies. Concocted by second-grade teacher Victoria Knight McDowell
and her screenwriter husband Thomas Rider McDowell, the products
Airborne were promised to "boost your immune system to help your body
combat germs," and users were instructed to "take it at the first
sign of a cold symptom or before entering crowded, potentially
germ-infested environments." The settlement prohibits unsubstantiated
claims that the products (a) reduce the risk of or prevents colds,
sickness, or infection, (b) protects against or helps fight germs,
(c) reduces the severity or duration of colds, or (d) protects
against colds, sickness, or infection in crowded places. The
settlement also adds $6.5 million to the $23 million the defendants
have already agreed to pay to settle a related private class-action
lawsuit. FTC Commissioner J. Thomas Rosch has protested that the FTC
order did not include the false claim on Airborne packages that the
products have "immune-boosting" qualities. Consumers have until
September 15, 2008 to apply for a refunds. The FTC news release and
related documents are posted at
http://www.casewatch.org/ftc/news/2008/airborne.shtml###
British homeopath disciplined.Dr. Marisa Viegas, who has practiced "alternative medicine" in London
for more than ten years has been disciplined by the British Medical
Council. In June 2007, the Council's Fitness to Practice Panel
concluded that Viegas had improperly advised a women to stop
prescribed medication and that the woman had died as a result. The
panel's report stated:
**Viegas was the patient's general practitioner from 1995 to 2002 and
had continued to advise her by e-mail.
**In 2004, Viegas advised that the woman stop all medications.
Shortly afterward, she was hospitalized, was diagnosed with
cardiomyopathy, and had drugs prescribed to increase her heart
efficiency.
**Despite being informed of the diagnosis, Viegas urged her to
discontinue the prescribed drugs and use homeopathic remedies.
**The patient stopped the prescribed drugs, developed heart failure
that necessitated re-hospitalization, and died a week later. The
recorded cause of death "acute heart failure due to treatment
discontinuation."
The 2007 panel suspended Viegas's registration for a year but said it
would restore it if Viegas gained insight into her misconduct.
http://www.casewatch.org/foreign/viegas/2007.shtml In June 2008, a second panel concluded that she had not changed her
attitude and ruled that she should be erased from the register (the
equivalent of revocation in the United States). http://www.casewatch.org/foreign/viegas/2008.shtml###
Experts discuss U.S. healthcare reform.
The New England Journal of Medicine has posted a 55-minute videotaped
discussion by 13 experts assembled by the journal and the
Massachusetts Medical Society.
http://www.nejm.org/perspective/health-of-the-nation-video/ The
topics include:
**Dissatisfaction among physicians and its relationship to the
current reimbursement system
** Approaches to payment reform
** The growing need for investment in electronic medical recordkeeping
** Strategies for reducing the disproportionately high costs of new
drugs and end-of-life care
** Political, social, and economic obstacles to achieving universal
access to care
** The potential for change under a new president
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Other issues of the Digest are accessible through
http://www.ncahf.org/digest08/index.html. For information about the
National Council Against Health Fraud, see
http://www.ncahf.org/about/mission.html. If you enjoy the newsletter,
please recommend it to your friends.
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Board Chairman, Quackwatch, Inc.
Chatham Crossing, Suite 107/208
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Chapel Hill, NC 27517
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