The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has approved a new program to help people identify Web sites that sell unsubstantiated cancer cures. The plan is to get the community involved in the process by reporting any sort of company or product that might not be verified and approved.
FTC’s Web site features a page that can be found at www.ftc.gov/curious where the people interested in the issue can find tips and signs about potential scams.
"We found all of these claims to be nothing short of breathtaking, and not in a good way," said Lydia Parnes, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. The bureau has already taken legal action against 11 companies. Six of them managed to reach settlements and five will be litigated. These cases involve the following companies: Omega Supply, San Diego, Calif.; Native Essence Herb Company, El Prado, N.M.; Daniel Chapter One, Portsmouth, R.I.; Gemtronics, Inc., Franklin, N.C., and Herbs for Cancer, Surprise, Ariz.
Parnes explained that there is no sort of credible scientific evidence for any of these products that would support the claims about preventing, curing or treating any form of cancer. The problem is even greater because some of these so-called cures may have dangerous interactions with other drugs and there are no warnings about the side effects.
The decision to quickly move forward with this program came as a result of the thousands of Web pages promising miraculous cures and prevention treatments. People everywhere, which find themselves in such a desperate situation actually believe that these companies can help, getting their hopes up and also paying a lot of money for some useless pills, a bag of tea or a bottle of mineral water.
The first 112 Web sites identified with non-medical cancer-cure claims were forwarded warning letters demanding an "adequate substantiation for any health claims they make about their products," explained Parnes. Over the next two months, more than 30 percent of the sites closed down or removed their wonder-offers.
The project is prepared for the long run, as the bureau’s investigators will keep searching the Web for these miracle-remedies and checking them in order to make sure that the public gets a fair and useful solution. The consumer education campaign is being conducted alongside the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and also the Canadian authorities.
The above mentioned Web page presents several signs that people should take into consideration before deciding to order a certain remedy: the first sign is if a company claims that its drug works on every type of cancer - all cancers are different; if a company uses technical jargon instead of simple facts; another sign is if a company claims that its product is natural - there are no such proven solutions; also, if the company has a money-back guarantee policy - this cannot be considered a true cure claim.
"Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., so I don't think it's a stretch to say that every one of us has been affected by the disease -- as a survivor, a relative, a friend and a neighbor," Parnes concluded.
