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Consumer Health Digest #23-17
April 23, 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.
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Co-founder of America’s Frontline Doctors suedA woman has filed a medical malpractice suit accusing pathologist Dr. Ryan N. Cole of negligence and other harms after he misdiagnosed her from a biopsy as having a rare and aggressive form of endometrial cancer
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/medicine-and-dentistry/endometrium-carcinoma. The complaint
https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2023/04/24145524/bassiri_complaint.pdf states that the woman underwent major surgery that removed her reproductive organs, lymph nodes in her abdomen, and surrounding abdominal tissue, but pathologists who reviewed the surgical specimens and original bioipsy material found no evidence of cancer.
In July 2021, Cole became medical director of America’s Frontline Doctors
https://quackwatch.org/11ind/a-skeptical-look-at-simone-gold-and-americas-frontline-doctors/, a misinformation-spreading organization he co-founded that opposes COVID-19 vaccines. Cole claimed to have seen a 10- to 20-fold increase in uterine cancer in his laboratory in the six months following the initiation of the COVID-19 vaccination but he has not publicly shared his data.
[Dutton A. She had invasive surgery after Idaho Dr. Ryan Cole misdiagnosed her. Now she’s suing
https://idahocapitalsun.com/2023/04/14/she-had-invasive-surgery-after-idaho-dr-ryan-cole-misdiagnosed-her-now-shes-suing/. Idaho Capital Sun, April 14, 2023]
In January 2023, Cole was charged
https://quackwatch.org/ncahf/digest23/23-04/ with unprofessional conduct. The State of Washington’s Medical Commission
https://wmc.wa.gov/news/statement-charges-served-physician-license-ryan-cole is alleging he: (a) made numerous false and misleading statements related to COVID-19, and (b) treated patients with COVID-19 or seeking to prevent getting COVID-19 in a manner beneath the standard of care. In a video viewed more than a million times, Cole spread dubious claims about vaccines and treatments for COVID-19.
[Spencer SH. Idaho doctor makes baseless claims about safety of COVID-19 vaccines
https://www.factcheck.org/2021/04/scicheck-idaho-doctor-makes-baseless-claims-about-safety-of-covid-19-vaccines/. FactCheck.org, updated Feb 10, 2022]
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1-800-GET-THIN Lap-Band scammer sentencedJulian Omidi, 54, of West Hollywood, California, has been sentenced to 84 months in federal prison for scheming to defraud private insurance companies and the Tricare healthcare program for U.S. military service members. He was convicted after fraudulently submitting nearly $120 million in claims related to the 1-800-GET-THIN Lap-Band surgery business. Omidi’s Beverly Hills-based company, Surgery Center Management LLC (SCM), has been sentenced to five years’ probation.
In December 2021, a federal jury found Omidi and SCM guilty of 28 counts of wire fraud and three counts of mail fraud. Omidi was also found guilty of two counts of making false statements relating to healthcare matters, one count of aggravated identity theft, and two counts of money laundering. Omidi and SCM also were found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Omidi is a former dermatologist whose medical license was revoked in 2009
https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2021/04/22174645/j_omidi.pdf after state authorities found he had engaged in dishonest and unprofessional conduct related to his application for his California medical license. He controlled, in part, the GET THIN network of entities, including SCM, that focused on the promotion and performance of Lap-Band weight-loss surgeries. The GET THIN deceptions included:
procedures requiring prospective Lap-Band patients—even those with insurance plans that would never cover Lap-Band surgery—to have at least one sleep study, and employees were incentivized with commissions to make sure the studies occurred
using sleep studies to find a supposed reason—the “co-morbidity” of obstructive sleep apnea—GET THIN would hen use the studies to convince the patient’s insurance company to pre-approve the Lap-Band procedure
Even if the insurance company did not authorize the surgery, GET THIN was able to submit bills for approximately $15,000 for each sleep study. Prosecutors estimate that Omidi’s deceptive conduct caused insurers and Tricare to pay at least $41 million for Lap-Band procedures, sleep studies, and CPAP devices and accessories. In 2014, the government seized more than $110 million in funds and securities from accounts held by individuals and entities, including Omidi, in the criminal scheme. The government is seeking a money-judgment order of forfeiture against defendants Omidi and SCM for $98,280,221 and is pursuing civil forfeiture of the seized property totaling $107,539,422.
[Former physician associated with 1-800-GET-THIN sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for massive fraud against health insurers
https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/former-physician-associated-1-800-get-thin-sentenced-7-years-federal-prison-massive. U.S Attorney’s Office Central District of California press release. April 18, 2023]
A Diet Scam Watch article from 2010
https://quackwatch.org/diet/reports/wlc/ describes how Weight Loss Centers, a California clinic chain operated by Julian Omidi and his brother Dr. Michael Omidi: (a) aggressively marketed Lap-Band surgery to people who, by medical standards, were not fat enough to qualify by ordinary standards, and (b) had a nutrition director with degrees from nonaccredited schools.
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Ads for purported tinnitus supplement scrutinizedTruthInAdvertising.org (TINA.org) has found problems with the advertising and packaging of Quietum Plus, a dietary supplement that supposedly “has the power to completely regenerate the brain networks and rebuild the ‘faulty wire’ that causes tinnitus
https://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/tinnitus.”
[Quietum Plus
https://truthinadvertising.org/articles/quietum-plus/. TINA.org, March 29, 2023] The problems include:
a Google ad declaring “Quietum Plus is FDA Approved” even though the Food and Drug Administration does not approve supplements
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/it-really-fda-approved and has not approved a drug specifically for tinnitus
https://www.ata.org/about-tinnitus/therapy-and-treatment-options/medications/use of the FDA’s logo
https://truthinadvertising.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Quietum-Plus-FDA-logo.png in violation of the agency’s logo policy
https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/website-policies/fda-logo-policy, which prohibits its logo from appearing on “private sector materials”
at least three of the four purported “Real Quietum Plus Users” pictured
https://truthinadvertising.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Quietum-Plus-stock-images.png on the company website are from stock images
consumers are given a 60-day money-back guarantee starting from the date their package arrives to request a refund, but the company’s refund policy
https://truthinadvertising.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Quietum-Plus-refund-policy.png says it can take at least three months to see the touted benefits
the company doesn’t cover the cost of return shipping for refund requests
the company pressures consumers into purchasing the product by falsely claiming the website “could be taken down tomorrow or in a couple of hours”
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Classic article on device quackery posted. Quackwatch has published a classic 1966 article about the activities of Albert Abrams, M.D https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2023/04/09193429/albert-abrams-fakery.pdf.
https://cdn.centerforinquiry.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/33/2023/04/09193429/albert-abrams-fakery.pdf, who was considered the “Dean of Machine Quacks” in his day. Abrams originated and promoted the idea that diseases have “vibrations” or “frequencies” that can could be diagnosed and treated by his devices. Devices based on these concepts are still marketed today.
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New GMO educational materials available The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has added new educational materials to provide science-based information on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as part of its GMO educational initiative
https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-launches-feed-your-mind-help-consumers-better-understand-science-behind-foods-derived-genetic called “Feed Your Mind
https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/agricultural-biotechnology”:
a fact sheet about how scientists use genome editing to develop food crops that address the needs of a growing global population and adapt to a changing environment: Genome Editing in Agricultural Biotechnology
https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/genome-editing-agricultural-biotechnologytwo infographics about how growing GMOs can provide benefits to both the environment and the lives of farmers and consumers: GMOs and the Environment
https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/gmos-and-environmentand GMOs Outside the U.S.: A Closer Look at Bt Eggplant
https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/gmos-outside-ustwo videos—one about how GMOs are regulated in the U.S. and the other about the experts who grow them: GMOs: Government Regulation and Your Safety
https://www.fda.gov/food/agricultural-biotechnology/how-gmos-are-regulated-united-states#gmo-video and Talk About GMOs: Experts Who Know Them and Grow Them
https://www.fda.gov/food/consumers/agricultural-biotechnology#talk-about-gmos[FDA releases new “Feed Your Mind” education materials on GMOs for consumers
https://www.fda.gov/food/cfsan-constituent-updates/fda-releases-new-feed-your-mind-education-materials-gmos-consumers. FDA, April 19, 2023]
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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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