Cancer 'Cures' Blasted By The FDA
- From: rpautrey2 <rpautrey2@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:45:41 -0700 (PDT)
The Los Angeles Times
Cancer 'cures' blasted by the FDA
By Jonathan D. Rockoff
Baltimore Sun
The government has sent warning letters to Internet sellers of 125
tablets, lotions and tonics that purport to cure the disease.
June 18, 2008
WASHINGTON — In an effort to crack down on fraudulent remedies being
sold over the Internet, the government has warned 25 companies to stop
selling purported cancer cures that federal health officials say could
disrupt legitimate treatment and even harm unsuspecting patients.
Food and Drug Administration officials, who announced Tuesday that
they were investigating fake cancer remedies, said that warning
letters had been sent to Internet sellers of 125 tablets, lotions and
tonics that purported to cure cancer. The firms could have their
products seized or face prosecution if they don't stop marketing them
within 15 days, the FDA said.
"Some products may present a direct safety hazard, while others could
potentially interfere with medicines that a patient is already
taking," said David Elder, director of the FDA's office of
enforcement. He called the fraudulent sales "a cruel form of greed."
Officials couldn't point to any particular examples of harm to
patients but said that one product, Black Salve, can burn away healthy
skin. Officials also expressed concern that patients taking the
unapproved products might avoid getting legitimate treatment.
The moves underscore the power of the Internet as a marketplace for
fraudulent remedies. Similar problems in the pre-computer age led
Congress to pass a 1938 law giving the FDA the power to bar sales of
unproven products that could cause injury or death.
This year, authorities in Canada and Mexico and at the U.S. Federal
Trade Commission sent warning letters to representatives of 112
websites that were being used to hawk unproven cancer treatments.
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Copyright 2008 Los Angeles Times
URL: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-cancerfraud18-2008jun18,0,6224979.story
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