Dubious Claims for Uriflow

Stephen Barrett, M.D.
April 4, 2007

Uriflow™ is an herbal blend marketed by BioNeutrix Healthcare of Brooklyn, New York. Among other things, the company claims:

Uriflow is the first scientifically supported product that precisely targets kidney stones at a microscopic level. By quickly reversing the chemical environment in the kidneys, Uriflow causes stone-bonded minerals to re-dissolve back into urine and flush out safely [1].

and

Uriflow™ has all the necessary components to support the big 4 of kidney stone support:

  • Help Disintegrate Stones
  • Help Flush Out Gravel
  • Help Prevent Urinary Infections
  • Help Prevent Stones From Forming Again [2]
Ingredients

Uriflow is said to contain the following ingredients:

  • Boerhaavia Diffusa: The pharmacology of this herbal extract has been extensively studied and has shown to have a dual diuretic and anti-inflammatory effect.
  • Crataeva Nurvala: The water extract of the bark has shown to cause spontaneous passage of renal and bladder stones. The triterpenoids and varunol isolated from the bark can also act as an anti-inflammatory as the stone passes.
  • Tribulus Terrestris: There are alkaloids in this ingredient that are responsible for an increase in renal perfusion and aspartic and glutamic acid contents have shown to have stone disintegrating properties.
  • Lawsonia Inermis: An alcoholic extract of the leaves has shown to have an effective anti-bacterial activity that has been confirmed in three separate clinical studies.
  • Bergenia Ligulata: Shah et al has concluded in an independent study that an exact concentration of crude extract has marked antilithic property in dissolving preformed stones
  • Ficus Racemosa: An extract from the bark has clinically been validated as an effective carminative and can help ease gripping pains.
  • Didymocarpus Pedicellata: The active compound in this extract known as Pedicellic acid has been established as a successful treatment for kidney stones.
  • Achyranthes Aspera: The extract from the seeds have saponins which have proven to have a stimulating effect on the kidneys and can help in flushing out gravel.
  • Raphanus Sativus: Several studies report the antibacterial effect against S. aureus, E. coli, Ps. aeruginosa, S. typhi and B. sublitis which can help prevent urinary infections from erupting after a stone passage.
  • Hemidesmus Indicus: An aqueous extract has shown to increase urinary output within the kidneys that can aid in calculi being flushed out.
  • Asphaltum: The bioactive Benzoate compounds within this mineral has shown to have lithontripic (stone disintegrating) effect.
Credibility

The company also claims that “Besides being beneficial by themselves, the true breakthrough of Uriflow™ ingredients lie in the proprietary blend perfected through years of trial.” [2] It also claims that there have been “over 80,000 successful cases.” I don’t believe either of these claims. First, the amount of research implied by these claims would be enormous and would be of such importance that it would have made headlines by now. Second, how could the marketer of an unproven herbal product locate so many kidney stone patients and collect reliable data on what happened to them?

BioNeutrix’s Web sites contain other suspicious content. The current site contains a box with an endorsement from “Dr. Saini Malta, board certified urologist, Hope Medical Clinic.” In January 2005, the site carried a similar endorsement from “Dr. Darain Mittal, board certified urologist, Meridian Medical Clinic.” However, I could find no evidence that they are actual people.

  • Using Google, I was unable to locate any independent information about either one.
  • The American Board of Medical Specialties database does not list anyone with either name who is board-certified.
  • Both boxes contain the same photograph.

The BioNeutrix home page contains the logo of the Better Business Bureau Online Reliability Program. Yet there is no listing in the BBB Online database. The page also appears to be using an unauthorized copy of the TRUSTe logo.

In November 2006, the FDA ordered BioNeutrix to stop making illegal claims for Uriflow [3]. However, as of April 4th, the claims mentioned in the FDA letter are still online.

References

This article was posted on April 4, 2007.