[From Nov 5 Natural Healthline. --Declan] ****************************************** FTC Launches North American Health Claim Surf Day ****************************************** by Michael Evers The Federal Trade Commission recently joined with public health and consumer protection and information agencies from the United States, Canada, and Mexico to "surf" the Internet for potentially false or deceptive advertising claims concerning treatments or cures for heart disease, cancer, AIDS, diabetes, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. The FTC announced today that in just a few hours during the recently conducted North American Health Claim Surf Day, Internet surfers identified more than 400 World Wide Web sites and numerous Usenet newsgroups that contain promotions for products or services purporting to help cure, treat or prevent these six diseases. The FTC said that it sent hundreds of Web sites and newsgroups e-mail messages pointing out that advertisers must have evidence to back up their claims. FTC staff will follow-up by revisiting the targeted sites in the coming weeks to determine if changes have been made. Suspected violators received an e-mail warning which said the following: The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), its federal and state law enforcement partners, and public health and consumer protection agencies from Mexico and Canada are sending you (and hundreds of other Internet advertisers) this message based upon a review of the promotion you disseminated through the Internet. The FTC and its partners have NOT determined whether your Internet promotion violates United States federal or state laws, Mexican law, or Canadian law. Nevertheless, we want to remind you that when you make health claims in promoting a product, service, or treatment, those claims must be truthful and non-deceptive. Deceptive Acts or Practices Are Unlawful under the FTC Act In the United States, Section 5 of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. § 45), prohibits deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce. In addition, Section 12 of the Act (15 U.S.C. § 52) prohibits the dissemination of any false advertisement to induce the purchase of any food, drugs, or devices. An advertisement is misleading and deceptive if the advertiser makes an objective claim, either expressly or by implication, including through the use of consumer testimonials, without a "reasonable basis" to support that claim. As set out in the Commission's Advertising Substantiation Policy Statement, advertisements that specify the level of substantiation that the advertiser possesses (e.g., "tests prove" or "studies show") must be supported by at least that level of evidence. If the advertisement does not specify a particular type of substantiation, the Commission considers several factors in determining the appropriate level of substantiation. Typically, claims of the sort included on your Internet site must be substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Competent and reliable scientific evidence is defined as tests, analyses, research, studies, or other evidence based on the expertise of professionals in the relevant area, that has been conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by persons qualified to do so, using procedures generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and reliable results. Anecdotal evidence and consumer testimonials are not considered competent and reliable scientific evidence. You may want to review your advertisement in light of these standards. Possible Violations in Other Jurisdictions Unfair or deceptive acts or practices are also unlawful under various state statutes in the United States. The standards under these statutes may be different from those of the FTC's. In addition, by placing an Internet site on the World Wide Web, you may be subject to scrutiny in other countries where you sell your products. You should be aware that many countries, including Mexico and Canada, also have laws that generally require advertisements to be truthful and non-deceptive. "Hopeful and sometimes desperate consumers spend millions of dollars on unproven, deceptively marketed, and often useless 'miracle cures' and the Internet should not become the newest medium for this age-old problem," said Jodie Bernstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "In addition to wasting consumers' money, some products or treatments may even cause them serious harm or endanger their lives. Even when the advertised remedy is harmless, it can still have a detrimental effect if it causes consumers to stop or slow the use of proven treatments." In addition to today's effort to prevent health fraud, the FTC has recently conducted several other Internet Surf Days focusing on different types of fraud, including pyramid schemes and deceptive business opportunity offers. North American Health Claim Surf Day participants included: U.S. Food and Drug Administration Health Canada Competition Bureau of Industry Canada Procuraduria Federal del Consumidor of Mexico the Secretaria de Salud of Mexico Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Federal Communications Commission (Denver Office) Attorney General of Connecticut Attorney General of Illinois Attorney General of Kentucky Attorney General of Maryland Attorney General of Massachusetts Attorney General of Minnesota Attorney General of Missouri Attorney General of North Carolina Attorney General of Pennsylvania Attorney General of Tennessee Attorney General of Texas Attorney General of Vermont Attorney General of Virginia Attorney General of Wisconsin Arthritis Foundation American Heart Association American Diabetes Association Capital Area and Tristate AIDS Task Force Better Business Bureau serving northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. For more information, Federal Trade Commission Web site http://www.ftc.gov Tom Carter FTC Dallas Regional Director 1999 Bryan Street, Suite 2150 Dallas, Texas 75201 (214) 979-9350