Protect Yourself Against Health Fraud
B-Fit!
Americans spend billions of dollars each year on products or services that claim everything from "losing weight and do nothing", to "no more arthritic pain." Easy remedies are hard to resist, but many don't always deliver on their promises. Some can be harmful.
Health fraud means promoting, for financial gain, a health remedy that doesn't work -- or hasn't yet been proven to work. Health fraud has grown significantly in the past several decades.
Why such growth? People today take more personal responsibility for staying healthy. That interest has launched a huge demand for products and services that promote real weight loss.
What are the consequences? Health fraud takes advantage of consumers and carries significant economic and health risks including:
False Hopes
Unsound nutrition advice, products or services
won't prevent or cure disease. For the best advice, contact
your physician and a dietetics professional such as a registered and/or certified
dietitian.
A Substitute for Reliable Health Care
Proper health care can
be delayed if you follow bad advice. You may lose something
you can't retrieve -- time for effective treatment.
Unneeded Expense
Even under the best of circumstances, some
products and services simply don't work. Why waste your
hard-earned money on something that has no effect?
Potential Harm
Unsound nutrition advice, products or services
can put your health at risk. Large doses of some vitamins and
minerals can have harmful
side effects. For example, excessive vitamin K is risky if you
take blood-thinning drugs. And excessive amounts of vitamin A
during pregnancy increase the chances of birth defects.
What can you do? Below are some tips that can help you in identifying health fraud and where you can go for sound nutrition information.
Do Your Homework
Find out more before you purchase a nutrition product, treatment or service. Watch for terms such as clinically proven, CITES certified, medically endorsed, Dr. Approved, etc. If they are one of the forementioned, the organization or Doctor's name should be clearly stated. And above all, DO NOT FALL FOR GOVERNMENT BACKED REPORTS! Government fraud is running rampant. (See the April 11, 2011 report, Waste, Fraud, and Abuse in Government Health Care.) Research other resources - and who they're behind.
Report Nutrition Fraud
If you suspect - or discover - that a statement,
product or service is false, discuss it with the appropriate agency or file a complaint. Especially if you find out it IS government fraud.
