Federal Trade Commission Steps Up to the Plate
Finally, the FTC stepped up to the plate and fined makers of four over the counter (OTC) weight reduction pills for making false claims. The makers of Cortislim, Cortistress, Xenadrine EFX, Trimspa and a Bayer multivitamin (which promised to increase metabolism) were named in the FTC fine. In total the fines were levied to the tune of $25 million dollars spread out over the various manufacturers of the above products. According to FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras (as reported on MSNBC)
“What we challenge is the marketing of the claims,” she said. “The marketers are required to back up the claims with the science and if they can’t do that they can’t make the claim. But we don’t ban the products from the shelves.”
Finally, an FTC chairman mentioning science as a foundation backing up a manufacturers claim. Apparently the fines are going to be returned to the duped consumers. And how that might be accomplished for an OTC product would be interesting as no record of specific purchases are recorded unless the consumers kept their receipts.
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A Point of View
Modern Western society is awash in a sea of food affluence. For many of us, from the moment we arise in the morning to the time we fall asleep at night, the one rhythmic pattern occurring daily with anticipated consistency is food intake—and in many cases very high quality food intake. Even the smallest of excess calories consumed daily translates over time to excess energy being stored as fat in adipose tissue.
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Overeating has become the symptom of a cultural disease associated with conditioned food intake, not a mystical physiologic process involving genes gone wild. From one diet manual to the next, the book offerings to navigate this mess are fancied up versions of the same old thing, eventually returning the dieter to a conditioned system of eating behavior. The contention of this blog, is it's time to get off the merry-go-round of dieting and learn the ABC's of basic nutritional science. Teach your children what they need to know to navigate the gauntlet of foods in the 21st century. We encourage any experts in the field to contribute.
5 comments:
I do still think that the role of DTC advertising in the US needs re-evaluating.
When I spent 2 months in the US this summer, on my off-days I sometimes watched TV with a pencil and pad in hand.
I was amazed to note that nearly all channels are awash with ads for the following categories - food, cars, medicines for stomach problems (mainly heartburn and diarrhoea where sometimes over-eating plays a key role), and weight loss products often endorsed by a celebrity.
In the UK, an organisation called Sense About Science has particularly asked 'celeb endorsers' to check their facts before flogging a product - something I wrote about a couple days ago.
BTW I like this new template on your blog. Your last one and mine were identical and I think mine needs some readability improvements.
Shefaly: Thanks for the observations. Indeed, it sounds like the UK has a better handle on product advertising than we do here in the US. The amount and number of pharmaceutical companies advertising directly to consumers has skyrocketed over the past 5 years. From insomnia to gastrointestinal reflux disease to restless leg syndrome, it almost appears as if the pharmaceutical companies are sidestepping the middleman (health care provider) in the diagnostic process.
Celebrity testimonials and endorsements aren’t as much an issue in the American market as paid endorsements by non-celeb individuals giving testimonials. With the exception of Anna Nicole Smith endorsing Trimspa (although, seriously, who follows the advice of Anna Nicole Smith?) the usual marketing ploy is to show a before and after picture with the claim, “I lost 59 lbs. on the X diet.”
By the way. I linked your webblog to ours, hoping you don’t mind.
Thanks
Thanks. I think NYT has something along the lines of the sentiment you express - an epidemic of diagnoses:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/02/health/02essa.html?em&ex=1168146000&en=8db2ea378f205105&ei=5087%0A
Although GI-reflux can cause serious issues including duodenal cancers, so it should be addressed.
Now as for who takes advice from Anna Nicole-Smith, I think probably too many people may be the answer. We live in a strange world.
Thanks for linking my blog! I shall do a cross-link soon. I am trying to host the blog myself and will need to work on CSS sheets to make them the way they should look and to host features they should have. So a bit of flux, delayed by the now-unavoidable writing of my PhD thesis..
Thanks again.
When are they going to crack down on Leptirin? It seems like there is a lot of junk being sold as diet pills. What is the deterrent of a fine if these companies do not get hit until after they have been selling their bogus products for ten or fifteen years?
Spider63: The problem the FDA is shouldered with is quite literally an American marketing machine which is out of control. Until truth in advertising is taken seriously, including and not exclusive to the diet and weight loss market, a new get rich quick weight loss scheme will be hatched daily. And the truth is they have a captive market; that is, there's very little (pharmaceutical products) out there proven to result in long-term weight loss.
Leptoprin is a caffienated, green tea extract containing, ephedrine and cayenne containing standard over the counter style weight loss pill. The problem is in what they promise, and that's where the FDA will now at least review the claims and compare them to the clinical evidence. But more than that, the study design and who funded the study are critical aspects an analyzing a clinical result like this.
Another diet med in the spotlight is Lipozene. The advertising campaign is absolutely one of the slickest I have ever seen. They begin with an explanation of how plastic surgery is used to remove excess adipose tissue, then plunge into, "If surgery is not right for you . . . " suggesting this is your only hope. Lipozene is basically a fiber supplement (glucomannen) and like other fiber supplements, water and some macronutrients are carried along with them into the colon. However, if you want a fiber supplement, take a fiber supplement and call it that. I'm as frustrated by it as you are.
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