Tuesday, August 15, 2006

SeaSilver makers are in trouble with the FDA

Was sent this through Denver Naturopathic's newsletter and thought the timing was uncanny because I too have been asked by patients and fellow practitioners what I thought of SeaSilver. Like Jacob Schor ND below, I stay clear of multi-level-marketing, so Xangojuice, mangosteen, Noni Juice, and all these "cure alls"I will never carry. And usually the people selling them to you have barely any nutritional experience, just want the sales and commission. See what Dr. Schor says in the introduction. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.


SeaSilver makers are in trouble with the FDA

Introduction:
Over the course of a year I get asked my opinion of huncreds if not thousands of 'nutritional supplements' by patients who have spent small fortunes on them. Most of you have discovered that I shy away from suggesting use of products sold through multi-level-marketing schemes as a general rule. One popular product over the last year or so that many patients have brought in to show us is a product called Seasilver. The manufacturers of this product are apparently in a bit of hot water with the Federal Trade Commission as described in this recent news release by Consumer Labs:Marketers of Seasilver Ordered to Pay Almost $120 Million.

On July 24, 2006, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that the marketers of Seasilver, an alleged phony cure-all, have been ordered to pay almost $120 million for failing to comply with an earlier order requiring them to pay $3 million in consumer redress. In ads for Seasilver, the promoters claimed the product, a liquid dietary supplement containing aloe vera, phyto-silver sea vegetables, herbs, cranberry concentrate, and other ingredients, was clinically proven to treat or cure 650 diseases, including cancer and AIDS, and caused rapid, substantial, and permanent weight loss without dieting.

The FTC alleged that the claims were false and unsubstantiated. In March 2004, the defendants agreed to settle the FTC’s charges. The settlement, filed in federal court, barred the defendants from making false or misleading claims in the future. It also required the defendants to pay $3 million in consumer redress and included a suspended judgment of $120 million, which would become due if the defendants misrepresented their financial status, or did not make the payments as they agreed. To date, Seasilver, USA, Inc. and Americaloe, Inc., and their owners, Bela Berkes and Jason Berkes, have paid less than $1 million of the consumer redress they agreed to pay. Under the Court’s order, entered on June 20, 2006, the Seasilver marketers are now jointly and severally liable to pay the full amount of $119,237,000, plus interest. The FTC has secured liens on the defendants’ assets, including a nursery, an aloe farm, and equipment. The two largest distributors of Seasilver, who were named in the FTC’s complaint and settled the charges, have made their separate court-ordered payments of $1 million and $500,000.