Tag: Federal Trade Commission

The stem cell hard sell: The Medical Board of California is forming a task force to determine how to regulate physicians offering stem cell therapies.

For-profit stem cell clinics selling unproven and downright quacky stem cell therapies have proliferated over the last several years, with federal and state law seemingly powerless to stop them. Recently, the FDA and FTC have shown signs of acting to crack down on them. Now, the Medical Board of California is forming a task force to determine how to regulate physicians offering...

/ December 10, 2018

FTC settles deceptive advertising claims against amniotic stem cell clinics

An FTC settlement may kill "amniotic stem cell" treatments, but a plethora of other stem cell clinics flourish without regulatory oversight.

/ October 25, 2018
iV Bars

The FTC cracks down on iV Bars for false advertising claims about its “intravenous micronutrient therapy”

One of the most popular forms of quackery sold by alternative medicine practitioners such as naturopaths is intravenous vitamin therapy, sometimes also called "intravenous micronutrient therapy" (IVMT). Most are variants of a concoction known as "Myers cocktail," and there is no good evidence that IVMT is efficacious for any of the indications for which quacks use it. Last week, the FTC issued...

/ September 24, 2018

Prevagen goes P-hacking

Can post-hoc data-dredging produce competent and reliable scientific evidence for Prevagen's claims of memory improvement? The FTC and consumer groups say "no."

/ June 21, 2018

CVS selling homeopathic remedies: It gets personal

I almost purchased a worthless homeopathic eye remedy at CVS for a cancer patient. I'm taking action to try to stop this from happening to others.

/ March 30, 2017

Regulating Health Care Products

How should we optimally regulate health care products to protect consumers? A conversation with the Acting Chairman of the FTC.

/ February 15, 2017

FTC Homeopathy Win

I love to see a regulatory agency actually do its job. Especially within medicine, where it is most important, the lack of political will seems to get in the way of properly regulating health care products and services in the way that most consumers assume they are regulated. Homeopathy is perhaps the best example. Homeopathy is pure unadulterated pseudoscience and witchcraft. There...

/ November 16, 2016

What (if anything) does “natural” mean?

What does the term “natural” mean on a label? Does it mean anything? Should it mean anything? Good questions. And complicated ones, judging from the list of questions the FDA needs your help in answering. The FDA has resisted defining “natural” in food product labeling, including whether foods that are genetically engineered, or contain genetically engineered ingredients, can use the term. Back...

/ April 28, 2016

FTC Slaps Down “Brain Training” Claims

Lumosity is a company that provides online and mobile games that it claimed are scientifically designed to enhance memory, focus, mental flexibility, and even stave off dementia. In a recent decision, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded that Luminosity’s claims are not based on adequate scientific evidence. They imposed a $50 million judgement against Lumos Labs, the company who sells Lumosity, and...

/ January 6, 2016

Continued Battle over Homeopathy

The battle to rid modern scientific societies from the blatant and harmful pseudoscience of homeopathy continues. This past year has been overall a good one – in the US both the FDA and FTC decided to review their regulation of homeopathy. They have gathered their testimony and are now apparently reviewing everything. Their decisions on this topic are eagerly anticipated and could...

/ December 23, 2015