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Consumer Health Digest #23-20
May 14, 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###
TikTok rife with misleading videoIn September 2022, four NewsGuard
https://www.newsguardtech.com/newsguard-faq/analysts ran 27 searches for videos on TikTok using search terms related to recent rumors about abortion, COVID-19, vaccination, climate, election, January 6, and Ukraine. They reviewed the top 20 results from each of the searches.
[Brewster J, and others. Beware the ‘New Google:’ TikTok’s search engine pumps toxic misinformation to its young users
https://www.newsguardtech.com/misinformation-monitor/september-2022/. NewsGuard Misinformation Monitor, Sept 2022] Their findings included:
19.4% of the videos presented as search results contained misinformation.
A search for the term “mRNA vaccine” yielded five videos containing false claims in the top 10 results.
Searches about abortion questions often yielded false and potentially dangerous results, consistent with the findings of a July 2022 NewsGuard special report
https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/dangerous-herbal-abortion-content-continues-to-thrive-on-tiktok/exposing videos that promoted drinking mugwort tea and consuming large doses of vitamin C to induce abortion.
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Ads for major health and education organizations found on misinformation websitesIn a special report to the European Commission, NewsGuard
https://www.newsguardtech.com/newsguard-faq/reported that in April and May 2023, its analysts identified 108 digital ads from 57 nonprofit and government organizations on 50 websites that had spread misinformation. The ads were hyper-targeted to specific demographic groups. In some cases, the ads were adjacent to articles containing false or misleading content. Multiple health organizations and U.S. colleges and universities were found to be advertising on sites “trafficking in blatant and at times dangerous health misinformation, including false claims about the dangers of COVID-19 vaccines and bogus health remedies.” For example:
Ads for Planned Parenthood and Girl Scouts of the USA were found next to an article published on misinformation-promoting ReturnToNow.net titled “Planned Parenthood—The Natural Way” that promoted dangerous herbal abortion recipes actually discouraged by Planned Parenthood.
An ad for Doctors Without Borders, an international organization that provides medical assistance to people affected by conflict, including the Russia–Ukraine war
https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/ukraine, appeared on ControInformazione.info, an Italian news site that has published false claims and conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia–Ukraine war.
An Alzheimer’s Association ad accompanied a May 2022 article by DailyHealthPost.com that advanced the unsubstantiated claim
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-toothpaste-fluoride-dentist-dementia-337743031181that fluoride is “associated with an increased incidence of Alzheimer’s.”
Ads for Purdue University and Franklin University appeared in a March 2020 article published by “natural health” website DailyHealthPost.com that falsely claimed that an “alkaline diet” of non-acidic fruits and vegetables can change the body’s pH level and lower the risk of developing serious health issues.
An ad for the city of New Haven’s vaccination program appeared in an August 2022 article by RaffaelePalermoNews.com that advanced the false claim
https://apnews.com/article/fact-checking-377989296609that COVID-19 vaccines contain toxic spike proteins.
An ad for the New York Academy of Sciences, the fourth-oldest scientific society in the U.S., appeared on a Healthy-Holistic-Living.com article promoting the baseless claim that green tea can “kill cancer stem cells.”
Many, if not all, of the organizations advertising on these websites were likely unaware they are funding websites that spread misinformation since the ads are purchased on digital-advertising platforms such as Google and The Trade Desk through ad agencies.
[Brewster J, Wang M. Do-gooders doing bad: How nonprofit and government organizations unintentionally fund the misinformation machine
https://www.newsguardtech.com/special-reports/do-gooders-doing-bad-nonprofit-and-government-organizations-unintentionally-funding-misinformation/. NewsGuard, May 12, 2023]
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FTC sues robocall technology providerThe Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has sued nationwide Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) provider XCast Labs, Inc., headquartered in Los Angeles, to stop its continued funneling of hundreds of millions of illegal robocalls through its network.
[FTC sues to stop VoIP service provider that assisted and facilitated telemarketers in sending hundreds of millions of illegal robocalls to consumers nationwide
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2023/05/ftc-sues-stop-voip-service-provider-assisted-facilitated-telemarketers-sending-hundreds-millions. FTC press release, May 12, 2023]
The complaint
https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/ftc_gov/pdf/2223097-xcast-labs-inc-complaint-for-permanent-injunction.pdffiled by the Department of Justice on behalf of the FTC alleges:
In January 2020, the FTC sent letters to a number of VoIP providers, including XCast Labs, warning them that assisting and facilitating illegal telemarketing or robocalling was against the law.
XCast Labs received dozens of “traceback” inquiries from USTelecom’s Industry Traceback Group regarding suspected illegal calls that originated on XCast Labs’ network.
XCast Labs received inquiries from law enforcement agencies about transmission of suspected illegal traffic on the XCast Labs network.
Even after receiving these direct warnings, XCast Labs transmitted illegal robocalls to consumers. Many of these calls were part of organized campaigns designed to generate telemarketing leads by, for example, impersonating federal officials from the Social Security Administration.
Lead generators sell the information they gather to telemarketers, who then use consumers’ information to pester them with even more unwanted, illegal calls.
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FDA warns consumers about Apetamin for figure augmentationAfter reviewing incidents of serious adverse events associated with the use of Apetamin, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is warning consumers the product is potentially dangerous and has not been reviewed for safety and effectiveness. The product is being marketed illegally and sold through social media for weight gain and figure augmentation. The product contains cyproheptadine, a potent allergy-treating antihistamine that requires a physician’s prescription in the U.S. Cyproheptadine can cause sedation, cognitive impairment, dizziness, and low blood pressure. It can also decrease mental alertness and motor coordination that can affect driving a car or operating machinery. It can also add to the effects of alcohol and other central nervous system depressants. Within six hours, antihistamine overdose can result in severe adverse effects such as: (a) disorientation and confusion, (b) hallucinations, (c) convulsions, (d) decreased breath and heart rates, (e) coma, and (f) death.
[Apetamin – An illegally imported weight gain, figure augmentation product
https://www.fda.gov/consumers/apetamin-illegally-imported-weight-gain-figure-augmentation-product. FDA Consumer Update, April 28, 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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