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Consumer Health Digest #22-16
April 17, 2022
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. To subscribe, click here
http://lists.quackwatch.org/mailman/listinfo/chd_lists.quackwatch.org###
CFI sues major homeopathic manufacturerThe Center for Inquiry has filed a lawsuit
https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2022/04/16203513/CFI-v-Boiron-Complaint-2022.pdfagainst Boiron, Inc., one of the largest manufacturers of homeopathic
https://quackwatch.org/homeopathy/products in the world, for deceiving vulnerable consumers with useless products dressed up to look like real medicine.
The lawsuit, brought under the District of Columbia Consumer Protection Procedures Act, alleges that Boiron:
(a) sold a plethora of materially identical products, each made up of sugar pills and powders, and
(b) falsely promised consumers that each item would treat a particular illness, injury, or health condition despite containing no detectable active medicinal ingredient.
According to recent data from the homeopathic product industry, 85% of consumers who purchased homeopathic products did not realize they were homeopathic, and 91% of purchasers did not even know what the term homeopathic meant.
[Homeopathy manufacturer Boiron sued for deceiving consumers with junk meds
https://centerforinquiry.org/press_releases/homeopathy-manufacturer-boiron-sued-for-deceiving-consumers-with-junk-meds/. Center for Inquiry press release, April 14, 2022]
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Fear-based marketing used to sell health and fitness productsExercise physiologist Nick Tiller, MRes, PhD, has spotlighted the use of fear-based marketing pitches. These are used to trick consumers into buying things such as “organic” food, minimalist (“barefoot”) running shoes, low-carbohydrate diets, products to address “aerobic deficiency syndrome” (a term coined by chiropractor Phil Maffetone but not recognized by health professionals), and health-club memberships.
[Tiller N. Using fear to sell fitness: The health trends that are preying on our insecurities
https://skepticalinquirer.org/exclusive/using-fear-to-sell-fitness-the-health-trends-that-are-preying-on-our-insecurities/. Skeptical Inquirer, March 30, 2022]
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Major review attributes “multiple chemical sensitivity” symptoms to anxietyQuebec’s public health agency, INSPQ, has issued an 823-page report commissioned by the province’s Ministry of Health and Social Services on the state of knowledge about so-called “multiple chemical sensitivity” (MCS). The report includes an exhaustive analysis of more than 4,000 articles in the scientific literature. It is written in French, but one-page
https://www.inspq.qc.ca/en/publications/2730and four-page
https://www.inspq.qc.ca/sites/default/files/publications/2730-multiple-chemical-sensitivity-syndromect.pdfsummaries are available in English.
[Syndrome de sensibilité chimique multiple, une approche intégrative pour identifier les mécanismes physiopathologiques
https://www.inspq.qc.ca/publications/2729. Institut national de santé publique du Québec, June 2021.]
An independent review of the report notes:
MCS is a chronic condition, often blamed on exposure to trace amounts of chemicals, that is accompanied by a wide variety of symptoms.
Since it was first described in 1956, scientists have investigated hypotheses based on genetics, neurology, the immune system, the sense of smell, oxidative stress, and the mind influencing the body.
The report concludes that trace amounts of chemicals are not to blame and that MCS is a type of anxiety disorder in which anticipation of a danger causes real and even debilitating physical symptoms.
[Jarry J. Zeroing in on the cause of multiple chemical sensitivity
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health/zeroing-cause-multiple-chemical-sensitivity. McGill Office for Science and Society, Sept. 25, 2021]
The Environmental Health Association of Quebec is objecting to the report. This association’s sponsors
https://web.archive.org/web/20210124024051/https:/aseq-ehaq.ca/en/association/thanks-to-our-sponsors/have promoted detoxification and other dubious services addressing chemical exposures.
[Jarry J. Multiple chemical sensitivity: Answering criticism
https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking/multiple-chemical-sensitivity-answering-criticism. McGill Office for Science and Society, March 31, 2022]
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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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Author
Topic: The Center for Inquiry has filed a lawsuit against the fraudulent Boiron, Inc (Read 195 times)