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Consumer Health Digest #24-27
July 7, 2024
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; other news items; Web site evaluations; recommended and nonrecommended books; research tips; and other information relevant to consumer protection and consumer decision-making. The Digest’s primary focus is on health, but occasionally it includes non-health scams and practical tips. Items posted to this archive may be updated when relevant information becomes available. To subscribe, click here
http://lists.quackwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/chd_lists.quackwatch.org###
Florida chiropractor who sold neuropathy care has license suspendedThe Florida Department of Health has suspended the license of Robert Raouf Abraham, D.C., who operated the Exodus Medical Clinic in Oviedo, Florida. In May 2022, the Department filed an administrative complaint
https://centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2024/07/08175040/complaint_2022.pdfcharging that Abraham had charged an 87-year-old woman $9,294.52 for a treatment plan. This included $2,500 for light-therapy equipment, $2,000 for a rebuilder-therapy unit, $1,000 for a nutrition-education program, $1,800 for supplements, $404 for an oxygen mask, and $1,500 for in-clinic treatment. The complaint also charged that Abraham improperly refused to return the cost of several items the woman did not receive. The complaint was settled with a reprimand and assessments for a fine and costs
https://centerforinquiry.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2024/07/08174617/suspension_2023.pdf. Press reports indicate the clinic was suddenly closed in 2024.
[Deal, Jeff. Complaints keep mounting against doctor that closed up shop after patients paid for treatments
https://www.wftv.com/news/action9/complaints-keep-mounting-against-doctor-that-closed-up-shop-after-patients-paid-treatments/BS3LNFYBSNAXFJSB3CC5OM4HWI/. WFTV.com, July 3, 2024.]
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New York AG seeking monetary relief from Prevagen marketersA federal judge in the Southern District Court of New York has accepted a jury’s finding
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/decisions/5.7.2024_people-v.-quincy.pdfthat Quincy Bioscience Holding Company, Inc.; Quincy Bioscience, LLC; Prevagen, Inc.; Quincy Bioscience Manufacturing, LLC; and four other corporate defendants made fraudulent and deceptive statements about the supplement Prevagen and are liable for violating New York’s consumer-protection laws. Quincy advertised Prevagen in media markets across New York as a way to reduce memory problems associated with aging, improve memory, and support cognitive health. After a two-week trial, the jury concluded Quincy had not substantiated any of its claims about Prevagen with reliable scientific evidence. The jury found some of Quincy’s claims about Prevagen to be materially misleading and all of them to have the tendency to deceive and constitute fraud under New York Executive Law Section 63(12). With the court’s acceptance of the jury’s verdict, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will seek both a permanent injunction to block Quincy from continuing to make deceptive statements when selling its product in New York and monetary relief.
Prevagen can cost up to $89.95 for a 30-day supply. It is sold online directly to consumers and at major retailers and pharmacies across the country. The OAG’s lawsuit asserted Quincy did not have adequate scientific evidence to substantiate claims about Prevagen, including it:
(a) improves memory,
(b) improves memory within 90 days,
(c) reduces memory problems associated with aging,
(d) provides other cognitive benefits, including a healthy brain function, a sharper mind, and clearer thinking, and
(e) has been “clinically shown” to do each of these things.
Quincy has been marketing Prevagen with variations of these claims on its packaging since at least 2011 and in its national television and radio ads since 2013. Prevagen derives its supposed active ingredient from a protein that makes jellyfish glow. The evidence presented during the trial included:
*** testimony from experts in biostatistics and clinical-trial design about the flaws in the planning, execution, and analysis of Quincy’s clinical trial for Prevagen
*** internal Quincy documents and submissions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration admitting Prevagen is quickly digested and unlikely to reach the brain
*** multiple televisions advertisements, along with packaging, containing unsubstantiated and deceptive claims Quincy used to market and sell Prevagen over the years
*** testimony from Quincy’s market development director about a bar graph prominently displayed by Quincy in much of its advertising that selectively and misleadingly displayed certain data from Quincy’s human clinical trial for Prevagen
*** testimony from Prevagen’s principal investigator who oversaw Quincy’s clinical trial for Prevagen about the flawed planning and execution of that study
The Federal Trade Commission helped OAG during the trial and will have its own claims determined separately by Judge Louis L. Stanton of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
[Attorney General James wins trial against Quincy Bioscience for deceptive and fraudulent advertising of “memory improvement” supplement Prevagen
https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2024/attorney-general-james-wins-trial-against-quincy-bioscience-deceptive-and. New York State Attorney General news release, May 8, 2024]
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Stephen Barrett, M.D.
Consumer Advocate
7 Birchtree Circle
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
Telephone: (919) 533-6009
http://www.quackwatch.org (health fraud and quackery)
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