Fraudulent flu products
This article was originally published in The Gray Sheet
Executive Summary
FDA has so far issued more than 30 warning letters citing more than 70 products that have been fraudulently advertised as having a benefit for the H1N1 flu, according to FDA Acting Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein. To alert consumers about Web sites that are illegally marketing unapproved, uncleared or unauthorized products in relation to the H1N1 flu, FDA's consumer protection team has posted a list online, broken down into categories for: air systems, devices, gloves, kits, masks, sprays, supplements and tests. "The consumer protection team is quite active now looking at the Web to identify people who are really trying to defraud the American public," Sharfstein said on May 21 at a House Appropriations Committee Agriculture-FDA Subcommittee hearing on the President's fiscal 2010 FDA budget request. "My concern as a physician is that people would turn to products that clearly don't work instead of seeking medical attention," Sharfstein said