Consumer Health Digest is a free weekly e-mail newsletter edited by William M. London, Ed.D., M.P.H., with help from Stephen Barrett, M.D. 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. The Digestâs primary focus is on health, but occasionally it includes non-health scams and practical tips. To subscribe, click here.
Multilevel marketing companies ignoring FTC warnings. According to Truth In Advertising, warning letters from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to 16 multilevel-marketing companies (MLMs) in April and June of last year about deceptive income claims and COVID-19-related health claims have had little effect on the MLMs. Most of the deceptive claims that have continued are in distributorsâ social media posts. [MLMs continue to break the law despite FTC warning. TINA.org, Dec 15, 2020]
Pseudoscientific health guru Dr. Zach Bush profiled. Zach Bush is a medical doctor who did a residency in internal medicine, a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism, and an internship in palliative care. A recent profile by McGill Universityâs Office for Science and Society concludes that Bush:
- preaches to hundreds of thousands of Internet followers that viruses don’t really cause disease and that tapping into ecstasy will be our salvation
- discourages vaccination
- claims that the theory of evolution is wrong
- poses a grand theory of health based on the assumption that Mother Nature is a âmiraculous hyper-intelligenceâ
- claims mitochondrial malfunction is responsible for all chronic diseases
- sells month-long âimmersionâ programs for $495, eight-week programs for $1,495, and supplements based on dubious claims about pesticides and health
[Jarry J. The droning preacher of mitochondrial ecstasy. McGill Office for Science and Society, Feb 4, 2021]
Popularity of âalternativeâ medicine among young women examined. An insightful article by a self-described skeptic and curmudgeon tells the stories of three women of courage and determination who unsuccessfully pursued âintegrativeâ approaches to metastatic breast cancer treatments. [Stiles S. Desperation and the quest for control: The dangers of alternative medicine. Quillette, Nov 27, 2020] The author concludes that their stories provide several lessons:
The obvious one is not to place undue trust in alternative medicine: Practising yoga may well reduce stress, but it cannot cure Stage IV cancer. The spiritual lesson is more profound. There comes a point, and middle-class Western women have reached it, when the feminist creed of empowerment becomes toxic. We can complete a medical degree, raise a family, run a marathon, but we cannot outrun death. The same masterly control, the same genius for organization that A-type women apply successfully to excel in their careers, is applied in vain to tame terminal illness. When we accept that there are limits to our control, we free ourselves from a crushing psychological burdenâa burden heavier than terminal cancer, a burden heavier, perhaps, than even death.
Unlicensed practitioner defied court by injecting Botox. Maria Ezzati of Vancouver has been sentenced to six months in jail and fined $15,000 for contempt of court after a British Columbia Supreme Court hearing. She must also pay an earlier $5,000 fine as well as special costs. Some of this payment will be used to reimburse people who received illegal injections. Investigations of Ezzati began in 2017. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia alleged that she had performed 44 Botox procedures on 38 people over a four-month period, bringing in $22,000. In 2018, she was found in contempt of court for referring to herself as âdoctor.â She was also accused of advertising medical procedures but the college couldnât prove she was performing injections herself. In 2020, investigators caught her on video doing multiple injections at a Botox filler party and obtained affidavits from people whoâd received injections from her. Ezzati later admitted she was in contempt again. [Lindsay B. Vancouver woman gets jail time for performing illegal Botox injections in defiance of court order. CBC News, Feb 1, 2021]
Pharmacists urged to not recommend homeopathy. The Center for Inquiry (CFI) has sent a seven-page letter to the Joint Commission of Pharmacy Practitioners urging pharmacists to guide their customers away from useless and fake medicine in the form of homeopathy. [CFI urges pharmacists to steer consumers away from homeopathic fake medicine. Center for Inquiry press release, Feb 16, 2021] CFI noted in the letter:
In pharmacies, the shelves are lined with a range of products about which the patient is often uncertain and uneducated and about which they look to the pharmacist to help. A homeopathic product, such as Oscillococcinum, sits on the shelf under a sign reading âcold and flu.â Its packaging states in bright colors that it treats âflu-like symptomsâ and âreduces the duration and severity of flu symptoms.â
It doesnât. It canât.
2001 || 2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 || 2007
2008 || 2009 || 2010 || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 || 2014
2015 || 2016 || 2017 || 2018 || 2019 || 2020 || 2021
2022 || 2023 || 2024 || 2025
To subscribe, click here.
