Consumer Health Digest #21-36

September 12, 2021

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; other news items; Web site evaluations; recommended and nonrecommended books; research tips; and other information relevant to consumer protection and consumer decision-making. The Digest’s primary focus is on health, but occasionally it includes non-health scams and practical tips. Items posted to this archive may be updated when relevant information becomes available. To subscribe, click here.

Former employees of chiropractic business speak out. NBC4 News in Los Angeles has aired its sixth I-Team report about the activities of Southern California business Superior Health Centers (previously Optimal Health/Straw Chiropractic) run by Philip Straw, D.C. The report described how dissatisfied patients had paid thousands of dollars for bogus neuropathy and arthritis treatments. [NBC4-I-Team. Former chiropractic employees tell their stories. NBC4 Los Angeles, Sept 7, 2021] According to the report:

  • One former employee said: “I was romanced in the beginning with the story of, you know, ‘we really want to help these people,’ but quickly came to realize this is basically the old ‘used car sales, hard close’ type of pitch.” She said that after patients came for examinations after being recruited through, for example, television advertising and marketing dinners, they would be assigned to a case manager who would use a script to try to close a contract worth $10,000 to $18,000. She also said: “I really began to have sleepless nights. Almost on a daily basis, I would hear from people who would say: ‘Hey you guys are using scare tactics.’” She signed a confidentiality agreement but said she needed to warn prospective customers about Superior Health. She added that its absolute goal was making money.
  • Another former employee said: “This company is known for changing its name consistently so that they can cover up what they are doing.”
  • Both former employees said that patients were seduced by testimonials for Superior Health, many of which are available on YouTube.
  • A patient who had lost the use of her left arm and was desperate for a solution was seduced by testimonials offered by Superior Health. She was treated for neuropathy primarily with red lights that did nothing and without realizing that the practitioner who treated her was a chiropractor. The chiropractor was introduced to her as “Dr. . . ” With financing, her bill came to $15,514.52. She later consulted a medical doctor and was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, an incurable, degenerative disease.
  • The parent company of Superior Health and Optimal Health is Neuropathy Solutions, Inc., a name that appears on the same marketing materials used by both companies with only the company names changed.
  • According to the attorney representing Superior Health, Superior Health was not formerly Optimal Health and “Superior Health does not practice medicine or chiropractic care, rather it provides management services to professional tenants.” The attorney provided the I-Team with a written positive testimonial from the patient with ALS that the patient denies writing. The attorney did not respond to follow-up questions.

Each of the five previous I-Team reports on Optimal Health and Superior Health Centers has been summarized in previous issues of Consumer Health Digest:

In 2013, the Chiropractic Board of California cited Straw for misleading advertising and fined him $500. [Philip Straw, D.C., cited for improper advertising. Chirobase, March 3, 2015]

COVID-19 misinformation found on 7% of popular news and information websites. NewsGuard analysts who reviewed 6,730 news and information websites found COVID-19 misinformation on 519 of them, 339 of which were based in the United States. NewsGuard’s Coronavirus Misinformation Tracking Center currently includes information about 22 “COVID-19 Myths: False Cures, Conspiracy Theories, and More” and 52 “Top COVID-19 Vaccine Myths.” [Sizing the infodemic: NewsGuard analysts have now found more than 500 ‘news’ sites peddling COVID-19 misinformation and identified 50 hoaxes relating to the COVID-19 vaccines. NewsGuard press release, Sept 8, 2021] Misinformation sites are often supported by ads. [Skibinski M. Thousands of the world’s most trusted brands—including Pepsi, Starbucks, Comcast, Verizon, Marriott, and even the CDC—have funded COVID-19 misinformation, including Chinese and Russian propaganda websites. NewsGuard Special Report, Feb 17, 2021] Some COVID-19 websites such as Children’s Health Defense, which is controlled by Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., get many times more traffic than generally trustworthy sites. [Brill S and others. “An absolute dictator”: RFK Jr. on Dr. Anthony Fauci, “deadly” vaccines, and other conspiracies—all annotated with fact checks by NewsGuard. NewsGuard Special Report, March 1, 2021]

Sellers of supplements to treat diabetes warned. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have posted warning letters to 10 companies for illegally marketing dietary supplements that are claimed to cure, treat, mitigate, or prevent diabetes: Live Good Inc.; Pharmaganics LLC; Lysulin Inc.; Nuturna International LLC; Phytag Labs; Ar-Rahman Pharm LLC; Metamune Inc; Holistic Healer & Wellness Center, Inc.; Radhanite, LLC, doing business as Curalife Ltd; and Aceva, LLC. [FDA, FTC warn 10 companies illegally selling dietary supplements claiming to treat diabetes. FDA news release, Sept 9, 2021]


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