Consumer Health Digest, Issue #23-19

May 7, 2023

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.

Acupuncturist suspended after deceiving thyroid patient. The Discipline Committee of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioners and Acupuncturists of Ontario has reprimanded Toronto-area acupuncturist Kyung Chun Oh. The committee suspended Oh’s certificate of registration for 12 months or until he takes various corrective actions related to his mismanagement of a patient who had lost his thyroid gland. Oh must also pay $29,818.45 to cover the College’s legal and hearings costs. Oh’s misconduct was found to include telling the patient:

  • acupuncture could regrow his thyroid gland and he should stop taking his thyroid medication to facilitate the purported regrowth
  • his thyroid gland was regrowing when Oh knew or ought to have known there was no indication it was regrowing, and that the thyroid gland does not regrow
  • to continue this course of action even as he developed symptoms that Oh knew or ought to have known were consistent with hypothyroidism

Oh’s recommendations resulted in the patient being hospitalized. Oh was also found to have failed to keep adequate records of his advice to the patient and more than likely falsified the patient’s records with statements that the patient “feels better” and was “getting improved,” and that he had recommended getting blood tests. [Lindsay B. Cancer survivor hospitalized after acupuncturist promised to regrow thyroid if he stopped taking meds. CBC News, May 6, 2023]

The Daily Beast examines Joseph Dispenza’s perversions of science. The Daily Beast has described “Dr. Joe” Dispenza, a 61-year-old chiropractor, as a New Age guru who “uses the language of science to make his mysticism seem slightly more mainstream.” Its recent report notes:

  • In recent months, Dispenza has become “the dominant spiritual leader of impressionable young women everywhere.”
  • He has 2.5 million Instagram followers.
  • “His meditations have been translated into eight languages, his $2,299 retreats sell out in days.”
  • “He markets his meditations as cures for deadly diseases.”
  • “His website contains no fewer than 40 taped testimonials of people claiming he cured their cancer or their multiple sclerosis or their infertility.”
  • His website claims he and his disciples have “produced profound biological changes in multitudes of individuals around the world” and “observed hundreds of healings from a wide variety of health conditions.”
  • A book he authored, You Are the Placebo, is a New York Times bestseller.
  • TikTok videos tout his book Becoming Supernatural.
  • He “preaches a fairly standard combination of mindfulness mixed with manifestation mixed with something he claims is quantum physics but definitely is not.”

[Shugerman E. How Joseph Dispenza seduced America with pseudoscience. The Daily Beast, April 30, 2023]

Consumers warned about Nose Slap and Soul Slap products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has warned consumers against purchasing or using Nose Slap and Soul Slap products. These products are marketed to promote alertness and boost energy. The FDA has received reports of adverse events such as shortness of breath, seizures, migraines, vomiting, diarrhea, and fainting from users of these products. The products are inhalants and primarily contain ammonia. Inhaling ammonia can quickly lead to eye, nose, and throat irritation, coughing, and airway constriction. The products may have been purchased online through the Nose Slap website. On April 24, 2023, the FDA issued a warning letter to Nose Slap LLC for marketing these unapproved drugs in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. These products have not been demonstrated to be safe or effective for their intended uses [FDA warns consumers to not purchase or use Nose Slap and Soul Slap products marketed for alertness and energy boosting. FDA, May 1, 2023]

Amazon.com added as defendant in homeopathy lawsuit. The Center for Inquiry (CFI), through its Office of Consumer Protection Against Pseudoscience, has added Amazon.com as a defendant in its lawsuit against Boiron, the world’s largest homeopathic product manufacturer, alleging multiple deceptive practices. Last September, CFI warned Amazon that its marketing and sale of unapproved homeopathic drugs betrays consumers’ trust and runs afoul of federal law, but the company took no corrective action. [Amazon.com: A ‘prime’ example of disreputable homeopathy hawking. Center for Inquiry, April 26, 2023]

Hype for electric muscle stimulation devices scrutinized. Exercise physiologist Nick Tiller, MRes, PhD, has looked closely at electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) devices that are claimed to facilitate weight management and increase muscle mass, strength, and tone, while eliminating the need to exercise. After scrutinizing relevant studies, Tiller concluded:

A generous interpretation of the many studies would be that electrical stimulation devices, when used during regular strength training, may augment exercise performance, potentially aiding in muscle mass and strength gains. But the data are of questionable quality, with a high risk of bias in at least one important aspect of study design. Moreover, there’s no evidence that EMS is effective in the absence of exercise. The most likely beneficiaries of EMS are older, non-athletic, less resilient individuals, perhaps with comorbidities, physical limitations, and low enthusiasm/ability to exercise.

[Tiller N. Electric muscle stimulation: The devil is in the detail. Skeptical Inquirer, April 27, 2023]


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