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Consumer Health Digest #23-11
March 12, 2023
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###
Alleged HIV medication fraudsters indictedFive people have been charged with engaging in a years-long scheme to defraud Medicaid and other government insurance plans out of millions of dollars while depriving hundreds of vulnerable, low-income people with HIV of legitimate medications.
[Black-market medication wholesaler, pharmacy owner, and three other defendants charged in $15 million HIV medication fraud scheme
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/black-market-medication-wholesaler-pharmacy-owner-and-three-other-defendants-charged-15U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York press release, March 2, 2023]
he indictment
https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/press-release/file/1571761/downloadalleges:
Boris Aminov distributed black-market HIV medications to two pharmacies in the Bronx, New York, through which the scheme was perpetrated.
Christy Corvalan, who owned and operated the pharmacies, purchased black-market medications from Aminov that were then dispensed to patients, funded illegal kickbacks to patients, and paid patients to sell back their HIV medications to the pharmacies, thereby inducing patients to forego using the medications prescribed for their HIV infections.
David Fernandez, Dezyre Baez, and Crystal Medina were employees of the pharmacies who participated in the day-to-day operation of the scheme.
Aminov, 47, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health-care fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, both of which carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Corvalan, 41, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health-care fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute (which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison), and aggravated identity theft (which carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison). Fernandez, 24, Baez, 22, and Medina, 27, are each charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and health-care fraud, conspiracy to violate the anti-kickback statute, and aggravated identity theft.
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Thomas E. Levy, M.D. admonished for bad COVID-19 adviceIn January 2022, the Colorado Department of Regulatory Agencies admonished Thomas E. Levy, M.D. for engaging in unprofessional conduct by cautioning consumers against COVID-19 vaccinations and recommending “treatments that lack demonstrated clinical efficacy against COVID-19 when other established and proven treatment modalities exist.” Levy spreads COVID-19 misinformation in his book, Rapid Virus Recovery, which was published in 2021 by MedFox Publishing of Henderson, Nevada. Electronic copies can be downloaded free of charge from the MedFox website. Chapter 10 promotes hydrogen peroxide, vitamin C, ozone, ultraviolet blood irradiation, and hyperbaric oxygen as “highly effective virus treatments that accelerate clinical recovery” and “multiple rapid cures that readily eradicate COVID or any other respiratory virus.”
[Barrett S. Thomas E. Levy, M.D. admonished for bad COVID advice (2022)
https://quackwatch.org/cases/thomas-e-levy-m-d-admonished-for-bad-covid-advice-2022/Quackwatch, March 10, 2023]
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Baseless claims and pseudoscience in health and wellness spotlightedA recent article “calls upon sports, exercise, and nutrition-scientists to protect the general public, the individuals and groups with whom we work, and the reputation of the discipline by proactively opposing absurdity, falsehood, and error in health and wellness.” The authors recommend “fostering a culture in which it is commonplace to engage in critical analysis of scientific and commercial claims and services.”
[Tiller NB and others. Baseless claims and pseudoscience in health and wellness: A call to action for the sports, exercise, and nutrition-science community
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40279-022-01702-2. Sports Medicine, 53:1-5, June 10, 2022]
They argue:
baseless claims and pseudoscience in the health and wellness industry undermine initiatives aimed at evoking long‑term behavior change
short‑term, quick‑fix interventions may impede the ongoing pursuit of sports performance
some commercial products and services are not only unproven but also potentially dangerous
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Chromotherapy promotion lambastedThomas J. Wheeler, Ph.D., has complained to the editor of the Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care about a paper it published that included “grandiose claims for chromotherapy” and “numerous scientifically questionable ideas with no hint of skepticism.”
[Wheeler TJ. Response to “The untold saga of chromotherapy in dentistry.”
https://journals.lww.com/jfmpc/Fulltext/2023/02000/Response_to__The_untold_saga_of_chromotherapy_in.41.aspxJournal of Family Medicine and Primary Care 12:417-418, 2023]
The paper
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8963609/described chromotherapy as “the method of treating diseases using coloured food, coloured clothing, colour saturated oils, coloured water and visible spectrum of electromagnetic radiation.” The grandiose claims included the assertion that chromotherapy can “eliminate the root cause of the pathology” for some patients. Wheeler taught an elective at the University of Louisville School of Medicine that took a scientific look at “alternative medicine.” Wheeler’s website
https://sites.google.com/site/kycahf/kentucky-council-against-health-fraud?authuser=0debunks hundreds of unscientific theories, practices, and products.
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FDA creates dietary supplement ingredient directoryThe U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has created a Dietary Supplement Ingredient Directory
https://www.fda.gov/food/dietary-supplements/dietary-supplement-ingredient-directorywith links to actions it took with regard to 27 ingredients used in products marketed as dietary supplements. The FDA plans to update the directory periodically to help manufacturers, retailers, and consumers stay informed about new developments and quickly locate information on the agency’s website. The FDA’s Office of Dietary Supplement Programs welcomes feedback and additional information about supplements via email
mailto:ODSP@fda.hhs.gov
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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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