FTC, Canada, Mexico officials launch "health claim surf day"

[Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>]

[From Nov 5 Natural Healthline. --Declan]


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FTC Launches North American Health Claim Surf Day
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by Michael Evers

The Federal Trade Commission recently joined with public health and
consumer  protection and information agencies from the United States,
Canada, and  Mexico to "surf" the Internet for potentially false or
deceptive  advertising claims concerning treatments or cures for heart
disease,  cancer, AIDS, diabetes, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis.

The FTC announced today that in just a few hours during the recently
conducted North American Health Claim Surf Day, Internet surfers
identified more than 400 World Wide Web sites and numerous Usenet
newsgroups that contain promotions for products or services purporting
to help cure, treat or prevent these six diseases.

The FTC said that it sent hundreds of Web sites and newsgroups e-mail
messages pointing out that advertisers must have evidence to back up
their claims. FTC staff will follow-up by revisiting the targeted sites
in the coming weeks to determine if changes have been made. Suspected
violators received an e-mail warning which said the following:

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), its federal and state law
enforcement  partners, and public health and consumer protection
agencies from Mexico  and Canada are sending you (and hundreds of other
Internet advertisers)  this message based upon a review of the promotion
you disseminated through  the Internet.

The FTC and its partners have NOT determined whether your Internet
promotion violates United States federal or state laws, Mexican law, or
Canadian law. Nevertheless, we want to remind you that when you make
health claims in promoting a product, service, or treatment, those
claims  must be truthful and non-deceptive.

Deceptive Acts or Practices Are Unlawful under the FTC Act

In the United States, Section 5 of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. � 45),
prohibits  deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. In
addition, Section  12 of the Act (15 U.S.C. � 52) prohibits the
dissemination of any false  advertisement to induce the purchase of any
food, drugs, or devices.

An advertisement is misleading and deceptive if the advertiser makes an
objective claim, either expressly or by implication, including through
the  use of consumer testimonials, without a "reasonable basis" to
support that  claim. As set out in the Commission's Advertising
Substantiation Policy  Statement, advertisements that specify the level
of substantiation that the  advertiser possesses (e.g., "tests prove" or
"studies show") must be  supported by at least that level of evidence.
If the advertisement does not  specify a particular type of
substantiation, the Commission considers  several factors in determining
the appropriate level of substantiation.  Typically, claims of the sort
included on your Internet site must be  substantiated by competent and
reliable scientific evidence. Competent and  reliable scientific
evidence is defined as tests, analyses, research,  studies, or other
evidence based on the expertise of professionals in the  relevant area,
that has been conducted and evaluated in an objective manner  by persons
qualified to do so, using procedures generally accepted in the
profession to yield accurate and reliable results. Anecdotal evidence
and  consumer testimonials are not considered competent and reliable
scientific  evidence. You may want to review your advertisement in light
of these  standards.

Possible Violations in Other Jurisdictions

Unfair or deceptive acts or practices are also unlawful under various
state  statutes in the United States. The standards under these statutes
may be  different from those of the FTC's. In addition, by placing an
Internet site  on the World Wide Web, you may be subject to scrutiny in
other countries  where you sell your products. You should be aware that
many countries,  including Mexico and Canada, also have laws that
generally require  advertisements to be truthful and non-deceptive.

"Hopeful and sometimes desperate consumers spend millions of dollars on
unproven, deceptively marketed, and often useless 'miracle cures' and
the  Internet should not become the newest medium for this age-old
problem,"  said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of
Consumer Protection.  "In addition to wasting consumers' money, some
products or treatments may  even cause them serious harm or endanger
their lives. Even when the  advertised remedy is harmless, it can still
have a detrimental effect if it  causes consumers to stop or slow the
use of proven treatments."

In addition to today's effort to prevent health fraud, the FTC has
recently  conducted several other Internet Surf Days focusing on
different types of  fraud, including pyramid schemes and deceptive
business opportunity offers.

North American Health Claim Surf Day participants included:

U.S. Food and Drug Administration  Health Canada  Competition Bureau of
Industry Canada  Procuraduria Federal del Consumidor of Mexico  the
Secretaria de Salud of Mexico  Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention  Federal Communications Commission (Denver Office)  Attorney
General of Connecticut  Attorney General of Illinois  Attorney General
of Kentucky  Attorney General of Maryland  Attorney General of
Massachusetts  Attorney General of Minnesota  Attorney General of
Missouri  Attorney General of North Carolina  Attorney General of
Pennsylvania  Attorney General of Tennessee  Attorney General of Texas
Attorney General of Vermont  Attorney General of Virginia  Attorney
General of Wisconsin  Arthritis Foundation  American Heart Association
American Diabetes Association  Capital Area and Tristate AIDS Task
Force  Better Business Bureau serving northwest Ohio and southeast
Michigan.

For more information,

Federal Trade Commission Web site  http://www.ftc.gov

Tom Carter  FTC Dallas Regional Director  1999 Bryan Street, Suite 2150
Dallas, Texas 75201  (214) 979-9350