NCAHF Newsletter articles from January 1 2003

NCAHF Newsletter archives from January 1 2003

Nostrum Mogul arrested for tax evasion.
January 1, 2003... Almon Glenn Braswell, owner of Gero-Vita International, perhaps the biggest direct marketer of bogus health products, was arrested January 13th in Miami Beach by Internal Revenue Service agents on charges of evading $13.4 million in income...

Limitations identified in oversight of prescription drug ads.
January 1, 2003... The Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) oversight of direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertisements of prescription drugs has not prevented some pharmaceutical companies from repeatedly disseminating new misleading advertisements for the same drug,...

Misleading drug ads found in Spanish medical journals.
January 1, 2003... Researchers in Spain found that 45 out of 102 promotional statements in advertisements for antihypertensive and lipid-lowering drugs published in Spanish medical journals in 1997 were not supported by the bibliographic references provided in...

Advertising agencies influence drug development.
January 1, 2003... The problem of compromises of science in the research process for developing new drugs to the promotional agendas of advertising companies was discussed in a November 22nd article in The New York Times ("Madison Ave. Plays a Growing Role in...

Newsweek errs on "alternative medicine," Part 1.
January 1, 2003... In its December 2nd issue, Newsweek published an ill-conceived special report on "The Science of Alternative Medicine." In his "Editor's Desk" column, Mark Whitaker wrote: "We're proud to be working with Harvard Health Publications and its...

OIG issues draft guidelines for drug marketing.
January 1, 2003... On October 3, 2002 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General issued a draft for public comment setting forth its views on compliance programs of pharmaceutical manufacturers to reduce fraud and abuse in...

New "supplement" laws passed in California.
January 1, 2003... Gov. Gray Davis signed into California law SB 1884 by Sen. Jackie Speier, which (1) requires warning labels on dietary supplement products containing ephedrine group alkaloids or steroid hormone precursors to minors, and (2) bans the sale of...

Slim Chance awards.
January 1, 2003... On January 21st--"Rid the World of Fads Diets and Gimmicks Day" of "Healthy Weight Week"--the Healthy Weight Network and NCAHF's Task Force on Weight Loss Abuse presented their 14th Annual Slim Chance Award to spotlight what they believe are...

Victor Herbert, MD, JD, M.A.C.P., F.R.S.M. February 22, 1927-November 19, 2002.
January 1, 2003... Victor Herbert, MD, JD, M.A.C.P. (Master American College of Physicians), F.R.S.M. (Fellow Royal Society of Medicine, London), 75, internationally recognized hematologist, nutrition scientist, and one of the world's leading opponents of...

Dr. Herbert's expose of bogus nutrition credentials.
January 1, 2003... A story about how Dr. Victor Herbert exposed the absurdity of professional membership in the American Association of Nutrition and Dietary Consultants is reprinted from the September/October 1983 issue of ACSH News & Views online at...

Dr. Herbert on telling the whole truth.
January 1, 2003... (Excerpted from Herbert V. Health claims in food labeling and advertising: literal truths but false messages; deception by omission of adverse facts. Nutrition Today, May/June 1987, 25-30.) At a seminar, which appeared to be orchestrated to...

Dr. Victor Herbert on fraudulent representation of "best cases".
January 1, 2003... (Excerpted from Herbert V. and Kasdan TS. Misleading nutrition claims and their gurus. Nutrition Today 20(3):28-35;1994.) ... Questionable alternatives represented as genuine and used to make a profit are fraudulent since, by legal...

Dr. Victor Herbert on Carlton Fredericks.
January 1, 2003... (Excerpted from Greene D. Westchester Q&A: Dr. Victor Herbert. The Case Against Vitamin Supplements. Interview in The New York Times. October 24, 1993.) One day... I got a call from the Food and Drug Administration saying it had brought a...