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Aktuell im WWW => *** PRESSEMELDUNGEN *** => Topic started by: Krik on December 22, 2020, 04:42:27 PM
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Consumer Health Digest #20-50
December 20, 2020
Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H
http://www.calstatela.edu/faculty/william-m-london
., with help from Stephen Barrett, M.D
http://www.quackwatch.org/10Bio/bio.html
. 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. Its primary focus is on health, but occasionally it includes non-health scams and practical tips.
###
COVID-19 vaccine and treatment anti-fraud initiative launched.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has launched Operation Stolen Promise 2.0
https://www.ice.gov/topics/operation-stolen-promise
to identify and prevent the production, sale, and distribution of unapproved or unauthorized COVID-19 drugs and other products.
ICE anticipates a surge in criminal organizations attempting to introduce counterfeit versions of approved vaccines into U.S. and global marketplaces.
ICE Homeland Security Investigations plans to disrupt and dismantle fraud schemes, remove illicit websites and other online marketplaces, and seize counterfeit or illicit vaccines and treatments.
Through the initial Operation Stolen Promise initiative, from April to November 25, ICE seized more than $26 million in illicit proceeds, made 170 arrests, executed 148 search warrants, and analyzed more than 69,000 COVID-19 domain names. ICE, together with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, seized more than 1,600 shipments of mislabeled, fraudulent, unauthorized, or prohibited COVID-19 test kits and other related items.
[ICE pivots to combat COVID-19 vaccine fraud with launch of Operation Stolen Promise 2.0
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ice-pivots-combat-covid-19-vaccine-fraud-launch-operation-stolen-promise-20
. ICE news release, Nov 30, 2020]
###
Consumers warned about tainted male-enhancement and weight-loss products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found that 46 male-enhancement
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/medication-health-fraud/tainted-sexual-enhancement-products
and weight-loss
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/medication-health-fraud/tainted-weight-loss-products
products purchased from Amazon and eBay have been laced with various quantities of prescription drug ingredients, controlled substances, and untested pharmaceutically active ingredients.
All 26 products from Amazon and 20 out of 25 products from eBay retailers contained undeclared pharmaceutical ingredients. These products may cause potentially serious side effects and may interact with medications or dietary supplements a consumer is taking.
The FDA's tainted products database
https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/sda/sdnavigation.cfm?sd=tainted_supplements_cder
can help consumers identify nearly 1,000 potentially dangerous products.
[FDA warns consumers to avoid certain male enhancement and weight loss products sold through Amazon, eBay and other retailers due to hidden, potentially dangerous drug ingredients
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-warns-consumers-avoid-certain-male-enhancement-and-weight-loss-products-sold-through-amazon-ebay
. FDA news release, Dec 17, 2020]
###
FTC cracks down on deceptive CBD marketing
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has announced six proposed complaints and settlement agreements as part of its Operation CBDeceit law-enforcement sweep against companies claiming their CBD products treat serious diseases and chronic health conditions such as diabetes, depression, arthritis, heart disease, Alzheimer's, and cancer.
Several of the defendants agreed to pay monetary judgments and all have agreed to:
(a) stop making such unsupported health claims immediately,
(b) not resume similar deceptive advertising in the future, and
(c) have scientific evidence to support any health claims they make for CBD and other products.
[FTC announces crackdown on deceptively marketed CBD products
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2020/12/ftc-announces-crackdown-deceptively-marketed-cbd-products
. FTC press release, Dec 17, 2020]
The defendants are:
Bionatrol Health, LLC, Isle Revive, LLC, and two former managers and owners: complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/202_3114_bionatrol_cbd_complaint.pdf
, order settling complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/202_3114_bionatrol_cbd_order.pdf
Epichouse LLC (First Class Herbalist CBD) and the company's founder and own, John Le:
complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/2023094epichousecomplaint.pdf
, order settling complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/2023094epichouseorder.pdf
CBD Meds, Inc., G2 Hemp, Inc., and Lawrence Moses, aka Lawrence D. Moses, Jr., individually and as an officer of the corporate entities: complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/202_3080_cbd_meds_complaint.pdf
, order settling complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/202_3080_cbd_meds_order.pdf
EasyButter, LLC, also doing business as HempmeCBD, and its owner and officer, Michael Solomon:
complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/2023047hempmecbdcomplaint.pdf
, order settling complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/202_3047_hempme_cbd_order_signed.pdf
Reef Industries, Inc., Cannatera, Inc., AndHemp, Ltd., and the companies' three principals:
complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/2023064reefcomplaint.pdf
, order settling complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/2023064reeforder.pdf
Steves Distributing, LLC, also doing business as Steve's Goods, and the company's CEO, Steven Taylor Schultheis:
complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/2023065stevesgoodscomplaint.pdf
, order settling complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/2023065stevesgoodsorder.pdf
###
COVID-19 "miracle cure" promoter indicted
Jennings Ryan Staley, M.D., the former operator of Skinny Beach Med Spas in and around San Diego, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for additional crimes arising from his business venture selling COVID-19 "treatment kits" that he represented to a potential customer as a "miracle cure." Staley was previously charged with one count of mail fraud.
[Doctor selling COVID-19 "cure" charged with lying to U.S. Customs, stealing employee's identity
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/doctor-selling-covid-19-cure-charged-lying-us-customs-stealing-employee-s-identity
. US Attorney's Office Southern District of California news release, Dec 3, 2020]
According to the superseding indictment
https://quackwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2020/12/staley_superseding_indictment_2020.pdf
, Staley:
*** agreed with a Chinese supplier to smuggle hydroxychloroquine powder into the U.S.
*** lied to U.S. Customs by mislabeling a shipment as "yam extract"
*** stole the name and identifying information of one of his employees in order to create and submit a bogus prescription for hydroxychloroquine on the employee's behalf, in order to sell the drugs at a markup to his customers
*** marketed and sold his treatment kits to Skinny Beach customers
*** described his product as a "concierge medicine experience," which included hydroxychloroquine—an anti-malarial drug that Staley described to one potential customer as a "guaranteed" cure for COVID-19
*** priced the treatment kits as high as $3,995 for a family of four, while Staley himself paid roughly $1 per tablet of hydroxychloroquine
*** stressed in marketing materials that recipients should "NOT BELIEVE THE REPORTS THAT HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE DOESN'T WORK!"
*** repeatedly promised in a phone call with an FBI agent posing as a prospective customer that the drugs he was selling would cure COVID-19 and that it was "incredible," a "magic bullet," and an "amazing weapon"
*** replied "One hundred percent. One hundred percent." when the undercover agent asked if hydroxychloroquine and mefloquine—another anti-malarial that Staley described as "the Russian cure"—would effectively cure someone infected with COVID-19
*** ever saying that the Skinny Beach treatment packages were a "one hundred percent effective cure" when interviewed by FBI agents one week after the undercover call
*** obtained the hydroxychloroquine pills he resold as part of his treatment kits various ways including: (a) soliciting them from his acquaintances and employees with preexisting hydroxychloroquine prescriptions, and (b) writing prescriptions for immediate family members and acquaintances to get the drugs "by any means necessary"
*** plans to make his own tablets of hydroxychloroquine, using the mislabeled powder he planned to smuggle in from Chinese suppliers he found online
*** one sham prescription for a Skinny Beach employee
*** asked the employee for a few tablets from her own hydroxychloroquine prescription, supposedly for another Skinny Beach staff member who was sick but then:
(a) wrote a bogus prescription using her name, date of birth, and prior home address, and
(b) took the sham prescription to multiple pharmacies to try to obtain hydroxychloroquine in the employee's name, including by pretending to be her during the online ordering process
*** lied to agents about the employee whose identifying information he had stolen, falsely claiming that she had allowed him to use her pre-existing medical condition to get hydroxychloroquine tablets that he would re-sell at a significant profit
.===========================
Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Consumer Advocate
287 Fearrington Post
Pittsboro, NC 27312
Telephone: (919) 533-6009
http://www.quackwatch.org (health fraud and quackery)
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