From: BLANTON@VAX2.DSEG.TI.COM Subject: Healthy skepticism Message-ID: <9211101345.AA13290@lll-winken.llnl.gov> Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 06:56:42 -0600 Things are getting slow again, so here is an article on pseudoscience in medicine currently appearing in The Skeptic, the newsletter of the North Texas Skeptics. Healthy Skepticism By Tim Gorski, M.D. Gero Vita Resurfaces Area residents are the targets of a new marketing scheme for Gero Vita GH3, the notorious "antiaging" quack remedy. The promotional mailing arrives without a return address and consists of what appears to be an advertisement for the product torn from a newspaper. Attached is a note with the addressee's first name and the words: "Try it. It's only 1/2 price! -R," so that it appears to be a recommendation from someone the victim knows personally. The product advertisement is a welter of pseudoscientific claims that build on the initial claims of Rumanian doctor Ana Aslan that she had invented an effective anti-aging treatment. Experimenting initially with aging rats, she subsequently devised a "secret formula" that supposedly turned a disheveled bedridden 109-year old "in a terminal stage of senility" into "an alert, vigorous" spry man "with much of his memory restored." Another 68-year-old woman is said to have had her wisdom teeth appear after starting the treatment. It's later claimed that "meticulous records" were kept on 111 patients treated over 15 years, who are said to have "lived 29% longer than the normal life expectancy." It's not mentioned what "normal" life expectancy was used for comparison, as life expectancy naturally varies with a person's attained age, as any actuary knows. Later, the ad says that experience with "thousands of patients" proves the effectiveness of the treatment. Unfortunately, no one has ever been able to get the treatment to "work" outside of Rumania. The original Gero Vita GH3 was given by injection and contained procaine, a local anesthetic, it being well-known that the best placebos, (which by definition are therapeutically worthless) have some kind of noticeable effect nonetheless. The current marketing scheme, though, is for an oral product which may contain para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA), apparently on the strength of the fact that PABA is known to appear in the urine of people who receive procaine injections. "Another Discovery Added to GH3," according to the mailing, is the "brain fuel" L-glutamine, a "shortage" of which, it is alleged, "can cause your brain never to get into 'high gear.'" The predictable testimonials of amazing benefits are offered along with these ridiculous pronouncements. A month's supply is offered for $19.95 with a money-back guarantee. Law enforcement authorities have acted repeatedly against Gero Vita GH3, the promoters of which are said by one official to "somehow always stay one post office box ahead of the law." And, indeed, the address given for Gero Vita Laboratories is that of "Postal Plus," a mail receiving service in Phoenix, Arizona. Rejuvex Florida-based Ginsana USA, in addition to promoting its ginseng preparation which is claimed to improve physical endurance, is now aggressively marketing an herbal/vitamin/mineral product called Rejuvex over local radio stations. The advertisements imply that estrogen therapy for menopausal women is dangerous and encourage listeners to use this "natural" remedy instead. But despite the supposed hazards of hormone therapy, its manufacturers include "raw mammary, raw ovary, raw uterus, raw adrenal and raw pituitary powders" in their preparation. The product is sold not only through health food stores, but through otherwise reputable outlets such as Eckerd's as well. As anyone who has contact with the "detail representatives" of the ethical pharmaceutical industry can testify to, great care is taken not to point too enthusiastically to the significant health benefits of hormonal replacement therapy for menopausal women lest it go beyond the FDA-approved product labeling of estrogen medications. But here is a small-time operator getting away, not only with claiming that its concoction can do what estrogens can in relieving menopausal symptoms, but that it can "protect from both osteoporosis and heart disease" just like estrogens as well! One naturally wonders why the stuff wouldn't have the same occasional side-effects and contraindications as estrogen, since it supposedly has all the benefits. The FDA is aware of this product, but it's anyone's guess when, or if, they will take any action against it. Pro-Quackery Bill Under Consideration But if law enforcement finds it difficult to protect consumers from the lies and deception of the vitamin, supplement, and health food industry now, it will be made even tougher if legislation sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch becomes law. This past June, the Utah Republican introduced S2835, The Health Freedom Act of 1992, which was developed with the help of a supplement industry group that includes several manufacturers of herbal products. Accordingly, the new freedoms that S2835 will bestow are on the billion dollar business of health and nutrition schemes, scams, and frauds. The Hatch Bill will gut the consumer protection powers of the FDA by prohibiting the classification of vitamins, minerals, herbs, or any other "nutritional substance" as a drug, no matter the dose and no matter the health claims made for them by promoters. S2835 would also downgrade the standard of truth in assessing promotional claims made for such products from that of a scientific consensus to "scientific evidence, whether published or unpublished [emphasis added]." Manufacturers would also be able to seek immediate court review of any FDA warning letters. If the Hatch Bill becomes law, the health food industry will be free to call anything it pleases a "nutritional supplement" and be thereby entitled to make false claims with impunity so long as it continues to engage in its sham reliance on "scientific evidence." The passage of S2835 would put an effective end to the FDA's irksome (from the industry's point of view) consumer protection efforts in this profitable area, since such attempts could be tied up in the courts while business went on as usual for the supplement entrepreneurs. [Editor's note: Readers can write to Sen. Hatch by addressing their comments to Senator Orrin Hatch, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510. The Senate's telephone number is 202-224-3121.] This information is provided by the D/FW Council Against Health Fraud. We welcome new members and would like especially to suggest that you let your doctor know of the existence and efforts of the Council in combating false, misleading and questionable claims in the areas of health and nutrition. The Council has found that most physicians do not have the time and inclination to look into what they quite rightly consider to be rubbish. But with your help, the Council can provide the resources your doctor needs to advance the cause of skepticism in this important area. For more information, or to report suspected health fraud, please contact the Council at Box 202577, Arlington, TX, 76006, or call metro 214-263-8989 Dr. Gorski is a practicing physician, chairman of the D/FW Council Against Health Fraud and an NTS Technical Advisor. +-----------------------------------------------------------------+ | John Blanton | | Secretary, North Texas Skeptics | | blanton@mcopn1.dseg.ti.com | +-----------------------------------------------------------------+