Agency cracks down on six Internet companies, charging 'fraudulent' marketing
　　FRIDAY, June 15 (HealthScoutNews) -- Web sites claiming their herbal supplements and electrical devices can cure or treat any variety of diseases and conditions had better beware, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned yesterday.

For the fourth time since launching "Operation Cure All" in 1997, the FTC cracked down on six Internet companies selling dietary supplements, charging they engaged in "unscrupulous and fraudulent" marketing.

Two of the herbs involved are St. John's wort and ephedra.

"One of the ways this current announcement differs from previous efforts is that this enforcement package involved two products where there were safety concerns," says Richard Cleland, the FTC's senior attorney in Washington, D.C. "Two companies -- Panda Herbal International, Inc., and ForMor, Inc. -- made claims that their St. John's wort product was effective in the treatment of HIV/AIDS and claimed that these products were safe and had no drug contraindications."

"There was also a company that was marketing a product called Ultimate Energizer [distributed by the Aaron Company of Palm Bay, Fla.] that contained ephedra and other central nervous system stimulants, and claimed that the product was safe and had no side effects," Cleland says.

However, one of the companies that settled says it made no claims that its products could cure disease. The company president says it only quoted studies and experts on its supplements to help consumers make informed decisions.

The latest FTC action, coordinated with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Health Canada and various state attorneys general, resulted in the settlement of five of the six cases. All the sites had to send their customers letters saying their money would be refunded if they weren't satisfied. No fines were involved.

The FTC filed a complaint in federal district court against the sixth, Western Dietary Products, Co., based in Seattle. If the FTC holds sway in court, the company could be fined and the products could be recalled or not allowed to be sold.

Ephedra -- also known as Ma huang, among other names -- is an herb that has been used for centuries in China. In the United States, it has become a common ingredient in many dietary supplements as a weight-loss aid or energy booster. But medical experts say the active ingredient in ephedra is a stimulant that can raise blood pressure and heart rate, cause vomiting, heart palpitations, dizziness and nervousness, along with more serious reactions.

The Ephedra Education Council, a Washington, D.C.-based industry group, has repeatedly rebutted these claims and insists that the herb and its alkaloids (the active ingredient) are safe when used as recommended.

St. John's wort was the subject of a public health advisory issued by the FDA last year. The agency said that a National Institutes of Health study and other medical literature showed that taking St. John's wort could interfere with the workings of HIV medications, drugs to prevent transplant rejection and oral contraceptives.

"Many herbal products and other supplements are promoted as natural and having not side effects," Cleland says. "We want consumers to understand these products are pharmacologically active and can be very potent.

"Patients know to be careful not to mix medications without consulting their doctor. They need to be just as cautious about combining supplements with their medications."

Almost 22.3 million Americans sought health and medical information online as of December 1998, which makes health and medical content the sixth most-commonly accessed type of information on the Web, the FTC says.

Twenty-nine percent of all Americans looked to the Internet for medical information and almost 70 percent of those searching for health care information on the Web do so before visiting a doctor's office, the agency says.

According to Cleland, the crackdown began in 1997 when the FTC conducted two "Health Claim Surf Days" and found about 800 Web sites and newsgroups containing promotions for questionable products or services. The sites were notified by the FTF that online claims require scientific proof and that providing false or unsubstantiated claims violates federal law.

In an FTC follow-up one year later, 28 percent of sites had either removed their original claims or dismantled their Web sites, Cleland adds.

Stan Goss, the owner and president of ForMor, one of the companies that agreed to settle the marketing case with the FTC, says the company only agreed to settle because it was easier than fighting.

"I'm a little fish," Goss adds. "We are a small company, and we just didn't want to take on the FTC. There was no fine here. We agreed that we would send everyone we sold these products a letter saying that we would provide them a refund if they were dissatisfied. We negotiated that out with the FTC."

Goss says the FTC has never been able to find anyone who got sick from a ForMor product.

"Our position is that we are not making any of those health or cure claims, but just repeating what other people and studies had published," Goss explains. "Everything we said, we got from some third party or study."

"And we print that information to let people know what had gone on in the past [regarding the herbal supplement] and how people used it in the olden days," Goss says. "We put that information up on the Internet and on our site, so that people can make some kind of informed decision about whether to use the product of not."

Repeated calls to Panda Herbal International, based in Bensalem, Penn., were not returned.

The other companies that settled were Jaguar Enterprises of Mesquite, Texas, and MaxCell BioScience of Broomfield, Colo.

　　From HealthScout.com