Health care products need to be backed by science or quackery will be costly, according to government regulators.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced they are putting hundreds of advertisers on notice that if they deceive patients with product claims that cannot be backed up or substantiated, they will face fines up to $50,120 per violation.
The list of about 670 recipients includes businesses that market over-the-counter drugs, homeopathic products, dietary supplements, or functional foods.
“The requirement for advertisers to have adequate support for their advertising claims at the time they’re made is a bedrock principle of FTC law,” Sam Levine, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement. “The prospect of steep civil penalties will help ensure that advertisers don’t play fast and loose with the truth.”
Some of the companies are household names: Amazon, Amway, Bayer, Cargill, Coca-Cola Co., Costco, CVS, GNC, Johnson & Johnson, Kellogg, Kraft Heinz Co., PepsiCo, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Rite Aid Corp., Walgreens.
But the FTC emphasized “inclusion on the list does not in any way suggest that it has engaged in deceptive or unfair conduct.”
Rather, “if a company claims that its product can cure, mitigate, or treat a serious disease such as cancer or heart disease, it must back up that claim through the accepted standards of scientific testing.”
What are the standards? Products must have:
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