Warning Letters have been sent to 23 U.S. companies and two foreign individuals marketing a wide range of products fraudulently claiming to prevent and cure cancer, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration today. The FDA also warns North American consumers against using or purchasing the products, which include tablets, teas, tonics, black salves, and creams, and are sold under various names on the Internet.
Those companies and individuals warned, the complete list of fake cancer ‘cure’ products and their manufacturers along with a consumer article on health scams can be found HERE.
“Although promotions of bogus cancer ‘cures’ have always been a problem, the Internet has provided a mechanism for them to flourish,” said Margaret O’K. Glavin, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. “These warning letters are an important step to ensure that consumers do not become the victim of false ‘cures’ that may cause greater harm to their health.”
The FDA urges consumers to consult their health care provider about discontinuing use of these products and to seek appropriate medical attention if they have experienced any adverse effects.
The products contain ingredients such as bloodroot, shark cartilage, coral calcium, cesium, ellagic acid, Cat’s Claw, an herbal tea called Essiac, and mushroom varieties such as Agaricus Blazeii, Shitake, Maitake, and Reishi.
Because these products claim to cure, treat, mitigate or prevent disease, and these products have not been shown to be safe and effective for their labeled conditions of use, they are unapproved new drugs marketed in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
Examples of fraudulent claims for these products include:
“Treats all forms of cancer”
“Causes cancer cells to commit suicide!”
“80% more effective than the world’s number one cancer drug”
“Skin cancers disappear”
“Target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone”
“Shrinks malignant tumors”
“Avoid painful surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or other conventional treatments”
The Warning Letters are part of the FDA’s ongoing efforts, in collaboration with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Canadian government agencies, to prevent deceptive products from reaching consumers. The initiative originated from consumer complaints and a web search for fraudulent cancer products conducted by the FDA, FTC and members of the Mexico–United States–Canada Health Fraud Working Group. Earlier this year, FTC sent Warning Letters to 112 Web sites falsely promoting cancer “treatments” and referred several others to foreign authorities.
Parties that fail to properly resolve violations cited in Warning Letters are subject to enforcement action up to and including seizure of illegal products, injunction, and possible criminal prosecution.
(Dov Gordon – YWN / FDA)
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18 Responses
I am unfamiliar with most of the products on the FDA’s “hit list,” but there is one item I do know about, and that is Flaxseed Oil.
Dr. Johanna Budwid, the leading edible oil expert in Germany, discovered that, when flaxseed oil is blended with a highly-sulphured protein, like farmer’s cheese, the rsulting mix would pprovide a highly-oxygenated compound that would selectively kill cancer cells all over the body.
Cancer cells cannot live in an oxygen-rich atmosphere, unlike normal cell which can.
Dr. Gerson’s cancer clinic-in Mexico-utilize the Budwighers to get a very high rate of cure of cancer.
So, it looks like the FDA didn’t do its homework.
I disagree. I am very glad the FDA is doing this. All of these homeopathic or natural cures either do nothing or could cholila lead to more harm. But, would they be able to prosecute?
deepthinker think a little what do you think just buying flaxoil and farmercheese and mix it you can be cured? dont forget the doctors dont make money from the phamecuetical company to push their drugs, if it would be that simple they would give it to all their patients and they would turn themselves into billionaires because the whole world would be their patients. last but not least a company that can prove that they found a cure would be the next google so think a little deeper.
With all due respect to deep thinker, it is people like you that the FDA is referring to. A member of my immediate family died of cancer recently and we know about this “miraculous clinic” in Mexico. The reason that it is there is because it is not legally allowed to practice its unproven fraudulent medicine in the United States.
Frum people that we know have spent their (and their children’s) life savings taking Gerson’s “natural” “holistic” medicine to no avail.
I assure you, if their medicine was such an incredible cure-all, a person would not have to travel to Mexico to get it.
Please discontinue posting things like this to avoid affecting vulnerable people.
Again, no disrespect is intended.
“Cancer cells cannot live in an oxygen-rich atmosphere” You mean like the lung? Don’t be fooled by this or other such “cures” Unfortunately there are many desperate people and there is no shortage of people who will take advantage of that desperation to make $.
The FDA are a bunch of money hungry, blood sucking rotzchim. They work for the lobbyist who work for the pharmaceutical companies who for obvious reasons don’t want it to be known that there are non-invasive, less painful and more successful methods of curing cancer.
BTW did it every occur to you that when the FDA approves a substance as non-toxic it just means that a person won’t necessarily drop dead after eating it. They don’t tell you that someone who eats this may accumulate toxins in their system which can at some point cause health problems. And they don’t tell you how much money slipped through their fingers to get the substance approved. Food for thought.
Sammygol, Bubby, and everyone else who is blindly discounting any natural, homeopathic remedies,
I think it’s important to do research on BOTH sides before experessing such strong opinions. I don’t believe in absolute success of either natural or conventional medicine, and I think there is a place and a time for each method. Yes, many “natural” substances can be harmful if utilized incorrectly, but there are many, many things that Hashem created which can be used to heal. Of course, there is also a place and a time for conventional medicine and treatment methods, and these save lives as well. I am speaking from much experience –my family members were saved by radiation after invasive forms of cancer, but for my children, homeopathic care, under the guidance of an experienced and truly gifted homeopath and naturalist, has been truly outstanding, as far as the regular childhood illnesses go. So here is a success story -my baby, who has been diagnosed with immunodeficiency and practically lived on antibiotics because he was always sick with another illness or another, has become strengthened and improved his immune system with the use of herbal and homeopathic remedies suggested by this wonderful homeopath, to the point where he has not had to take antibiotics for over 6 months straight! Of course he still gets sick periodically, but is able to fight it off rather quickly. And by the way, there are many, many documented studies on benefits of organic food (especially produce, milk, meat, etc) for children. So strong opinions notwithstanding, do your research and decide what is best for yourself. And of course, we can only daven that all of our efforts bring refuah from Hakodesh Boruch Hu…
Flaxseed oil plus farmer cheese. Unfortunately cancer cells are not that easily, conveniently and painlessly removed.
Refuah shelema min hashamayim lekol cholei amchah bet yisrael.
sammygol,
Really now, name calling won’t get you very far in life. There are people who believe in doctors and there are people who don’t. You obviously are of the former and I am of the latter. In a country that continues to debate pro-choice and all it’s moral baggage, I would like to have a choice for my personal well-being. If the doctors gave up on a person and sent him home to die r”l would he not want to try anything? Something? The alternative cures won’t kill him any faster. I’m not suggesting that alternative methods are for everyone, but let them be there for those who want to give it a try. We’re not talking about narcotics here.
And, of course the FDA believes their own lies. Shochad blinds.
As for doctors being paid by pharmaceutical companies, I actually read a fascinating article by a former salesman for a pharmaceutical company who describes the treatment the salespeople were instructed to give to doctors to chanif them into prescribing their brand. Maybe he had a great imagination and maybe there was a good grain of truth in it.
“Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water…”
Obviously not for cancer – but for many chronic illnesses and preventive measures it IS worth looking into “complementary” supplements etc. For example, you would do well to try giving flaxseed oil to a kid that’s coughing, it can help get rid of the cough and prevent escalating to bronchitis/pnuemonia (from a mom that tried it.) Garlic/kyolic too – great way to boost a kids immune system. Vitamin C – at the first hint of a cold – it can stop it in its tracks…
BS”D
If any of you who are defending these fake cures have Rav Blumenkrantz’s Pesach guide around, please see what he says about so called alternative medicine being no better than A”Z and kishuf. Considering he L”A suffered from chronic illness that shortened his life, his opinion should be taken very seriously as he knew far better than to turn to quackery.
Save the homeopathy and vitamins for colds and other nuisances if you must. But no one should be misled by snake oil salesmen whose profit margin is actually far higher than that of “big pharma”.
the point that you are missing – sammygol – is that when you consider the amount of money needed to bring a drug to market, there is no way anything that’s not patentable will ever have the amount of testing to “conclusively” prove that a drug is effective.
there are a number of “cures” for cancer that have a substantial amount of anectodal evidence supporting their use.(essiac for one is of interest)
another thing is that i’m not for regulating something that has had some sort of success, unless it’s clearly snake oil…
also, justwhatweneed, i read an entire book on that topic written by a investigative reporter for the new york times called “our daily meds” (look it up on amazon)
Sammygol-
Regardless of your main point here, your information on otitis media is outdated.
A bit off the main point of the article…
Sammygol said “The difference between it and the established medical practice is one of evidence”.
Actually, it’s not of “evidence”, but rather “double blind studies” (even if only for short-term effects, with no consideration of side-effects.)
Evidence, there’s plenty of evidence for many complementary and/or alternative treatments.
So if no one bothered to undertake a double-blind study test, say, if vinegar can eradicate a fingernail fungus (b/c where’s the profit in THAT)- the preferred method is to have the doctor prescribe an equally effective medication, BUT – with serious risks of side-effects such as liver damage (so much so, that the patient has to be continually tested to make sure no damage is happening during course of treatment.)
You’ve got to be able to choose the best of both.
obviously hashem is the rofe cholim. the FDA care more about their and the drug companies that pay them profits then your or my safety. Just look at the news, every day its a different drug they recall. I urge everyone to read kevin trudeau’s book.(please make your own mind up, dont feel that you have to listen to every bit of narishkeit people online are saying.) The fact that the FDA goes crazy trying to sue him and shut him down, shows that he’s onto something. They dont try shutting down every quack out there. Kevin has a point, and that is the FDA sold themselves out to the highest bidder, unfortunately thats not you the consumer, but the drug companies that pay them millions. Ushmartem MIOD es nafshosechem. You have a cheeyuv to actually research things and not blindly trust basar vdams.
sammygol –
You can’t say that to anyone who’s had a nail fungus for years, and then successfully used simple “salad” vinegar, as you put it, to get rid of it…
FYI – ANY fungul medication will take as long as the body grows the nail out – to see results. And yes, along with vinegar you’d have to consider nutritional habits too, so it doesn’t come back again.
But the bigger point of the comment was – there ARE effective therapies out there that pose less or zero risks of side-effects(that aren’t necessarily “trademarked” or double-blind tested) and it’s our responsibility to do our due diligence – to choose the best of conventional medicines and/or complementary/alternative medicines.
For those that insist on ignoring the less-risky alternatives,that’s their choice to live with the consequences of their decisions.
sammygol- I mention him exactly for that reason. His claims against the FDA are something that we should all realize and worry about. Why do you think the FDA is magically above corruption or shochad?
I never said that. Either way my point is to be smart and dont blindly trust ANYONE. Be it the FDA, your doctor, your grandmother’s cure-all chicken soup- whatever. Be smart, and the aibeshter should help us all be healthy.