More than 5,000 Americans are about to get a check in the mail, after regulators discovered that a Florida-based supplement maker was peddling an herbal drink mix that it claimed could help treat addiction.
The company, Sunrise Nutraceuticals, marketed its Elimidrol powdered drink mix as having a "high success rate … in overcoming opiate withdrawal" and said it could help people "leave addiction behind permanently," according to a statement from the Federal Trade Commission.
But the product, which Sunrise sold online by the tub for $US75, contained no ingredients that have been scientifically proven to help with drug withdrawal or addiction symptoms.
Instead, it was composed mainly of herbal extracts like lemon balm, ginger root, ginseng, and magnolia bark, plus a handful of vitamins and minerals such as vitamins B and C.
The FTC sued Sunrise for making "deceptive claims" and is sending refund checks totaling more than $US210,000 to people who bought Elimidrol, many of whom may have been using the product to help treat addictions to opioid painkillers.
"Opiate addiction has taken a tremendous toll on the American public," Jessica Rich, the Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.
"By peddling their unproven product, these defendants have prevented people from seeking legitimate treatment."
Sunrise is one of hundreds of supplement makers that have been sued by the FTC for allegedly making bogus health claims.
While supplements might sound harmless, many are unnecessary, misleading, or even dangerous.
The $US37-billion dollar supplement industry is largely unregulated; the agencies who oversee it are confined mainly to reacting once a supplement is found to have hurt someone or severely misled them.
As a result, pills and powders that are found to be linked with negative conditions like cancer or kidney stones may only get recalled after they have lingered on grocery shelves for months.
"In the US, no dietary supplements are pre-screened for safety and efficacy," S. Bryn Austin, a professor of behavioural sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Business Insider.
"What that means is the FDA and consumers have no way to know if what's in the bottle or box is what's on the label. There's no way to know for sure that what's in the product is safe."
The FTC case against Sunrise is part of the agency's ongoing work with the Food and Drug Administration to protect consumers from misleading health advertising.
If you think a claim on a dietary supplement is false, you can report it to the FTC. If you've had an adverse reaction to a supplement, you can report it to the FDA.
This article was originally published by Business Insider.
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