6 Tip-offs to Rip-offs: Don't Fall for Health Fraud Scams
FDA: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Health fraud scams have been around for hundreds of years. The snake oil salesmen of old have morphed into the deceptive, high-tech marketers of today. They prey on people's desires for easy solutions to difficult health problems—from losing weight to curing serious diseases like cancer.
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a health product is fraudulent if it is deceptively promoted as being effective against a disease or health condition but has not been scientifically proven safe and effective for that purpose.
Scammers promote their products through newspapers, magazines, TV infomercials, and the web. You can find health fraud scams in retail stores and on countless websites, in popup ads and spam, and on social media sites.
Not Worth the Risk
Health fraud scams can do more than waste your money. They can cause serious injury or even death, says Gary Coody, R.Ph., the FDA's national health fraud coordinator. "Using unproven treatments can delay getting a potentially life-saving diagnosis and medication that actually works. Also, fraudulent products sometimes contain hidden drug ingredients that can be harmful when unknowingly taken by consumers."
Coody says fraudulent products often make claims related to weight loss, memory loss, or serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and Alzheimer's.
A Pervasive Problem
Fraudulent products not only won't work—they could cause serious injury. In the past few years, FDA laboratories have found more than 100 weight-loss products, illegally marketed as dietary supplements, that contained sibutramine, the active ingredient in the prescription weight-loss drug Meridia. In 2010, Meridia was withdrawn from the U.S. market after studies showed that it was associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
Fraudulent products marketed as drugs or dietary supplements are not the only health scams on the market. FDA found a fraudulent and expensive light therapy device with cure-all claims to treat fungal meningitis, Alzheimer's, skin cancer, concussions and many other diseases. Making health claims about a medical device without FDA clearance or approval of the device is illegal.
Which line from the text answers the research question "What is a health fraud scam?"
A) Making health claims about a medical device without FDA clearance or approval of the device is illegal.
B) In the past few years, FDA laboratories have found more than 100 weight-loss products,
C) FDA found a fraudulent and expensive light therapy device
D) Health fraud scams have been around for hundreds of years.