Desperate Patients are Prime Targets for Scams !

A continuation of my last post…
Fraudulent, False Hope 4 ALS, MS, PARKINSONS & MUSCULAR DYSTROPHY Runs Rampant on the Internet   As I said, it’s gone too far and I’m not the first to notice, nor do I think it’s ok to remain quiet. Blogs and sites are popping up everywhere to warn patients and families out there. Being on disability income is hard enough..
Well, now it’s coming word-of-mouth right to us. I normally wouldn’t bring this up, but it’s coming to us! Getting truth out there about so many miraculous supplements… A billion $ + market that I once invested hundreds a month in. Not just the supplements’ science, but exact science of the disease related to the supplement touted by so many irrelevant stories. (trying to link the two to the unwary)
Recently, a new friend mentioned ALS to a new random acquaintance at a local Curves gym and wham! There it is… you need to try this! “Here, let me give you some info about this supplement and about this “New Opportunity”. On four independent occasions now, reps and unknown new contacts have approached or sought us out and claim their botanical supplement will help (or could even affect) the progression of ALS, help with Diabetes, even with anti-aging.
It may help with oxidative stress reduction (as they claim) and I can guarantee that there are plenty of studies on their website that prove it. I don’t dispute this! That’s not the issue! The issues arise by using valid study findings, then saying our product helps with that, loosely associating the two, then “insinuating” through legal personal testimonials (not corp.) that it has cured almost everything.
In completely unassociated diseases, what must be the logical outcome and result from taking it is not science (it’s placebo)... Testimonials written by people with financial $take in selling anything are virtually worthless and almost always biased. (fine print… “we make no claims….. yada, yada…)
I’m focusing on ALS here, but we personally know people with fibromyalgia, MD, autism and diabetes who have all been encouraged to try so many various miracles by Amway, MMS, Herbalife, Life Vantage and Mannatech, and more.
I wanted to express my thoughts on these apparently amazing blends that must baffle the entire scientific community with their miraculous healing potentials. One example being associated with ALS is Protandim by Life Vantage.

read the comments! A fight between skeptics and reps…

Along with their reps, LV doesn’t “officially claim” that their product “does” actually anything at all other than oxidative stress reduction (which 100’s of things do). They’re not allowed to under FDA regs for supplements. The rest is left all to innuendo by reps not their corporations.

time codes below refer here…

The point is; even having people “insinuate” that it “could” help is propagating absolute false claims and playing on people’s emotions. It makes me so angry. (personal opinion is not science fact). Even if they use the personal experience (MLM Feel, Felt, Found) “your mileage may vary” approach as a legal cop-out, it’s still wrong. A review by Science-Based Medicine of eight peer-reviewed studies found insufficient evidence to support its usefulness. Dr. Harriet Hall states, "We simply don’t know enough at this point to recommend Protandim for treatment or prevention of any disease, for anti-aging, for making people feel healthier or more energetic, or for anything else." (ALS-TDI) See more of Dr. Harriet Hall HERE minutes 19:30 – 20:10 & @ 23:20
Don’t you think every lab, institute or neurology researcher in the world would test, reverse engineer and sell this in a minute if it really worked? (ALS-TDI, a leading institute, has a reputable forum post Here!)  “Ohhh, but it has 3 patents and a special blend you can’t copy”, you say. Hmmm, and I can’t find cheap illegal Chinese purse knock-offs anywhere on the internet either. “Ohhh, But what if I didn’t take it?”  That’s a sales tactic that’s been called FUD “Fear, uncertainty and doubt” since the 1920’s…
I have done my homework, being in the game, so to speak. I’ve even looked into the cost of a stem cell treatment @ $125,000 with the means to pay it. That, was later found to be fraudulent in a federal investigation after a 60 Minutes special. The two men now in prison for selling stem cell procedures to two ALS patients now deceased.
Anyway, the 5 everyday, OTC botanicals in Protandim may cure anything and may even have magical properties. But as with Eric Edney and his new book, detox and diet regimens, there is always a an extremely slow progression (of any disease) for 15-20 years which may be genetic. But if something is being done or taken, then Shazam… it has to be it! @ 15:55, (disclaimer> your results may vary… now you can’t sue me)
If it’s something people believe in, then credibility goes WAY up when there’s not a financial conflict of interest. I believed that 3000mg of CoQ-10 daily could slow ALS, but trials have disproved this and even at levels of 5000mg+. I still take 300mg daily, but I don’t own stock in a coq10 factory and I don’t persuade people to buy it. Again, watch this minutes 10:02, 24:40
Deceptive to say the least.  The fact that these various supplements are now being touted by companies like Amway, MMS, Herbalife, Life Vantage and Mannatech, and many more “homeopathy” & “flower remedy” companies @38:18, for huge mark-ups to support their network marketing infrastructure makes this so much worse.  Making money on people through false hope screams unethical and just plain wrong. Reps are duplicated to “insinuate” the same “non-committal” claims to their down line through calls and rallies...

Direct sales companies are great, ones that “lead” the customer to believe their products can slow progression of major diseases without specific disease related science is not ok. The business model is fine, it works for a variety of products, but profit can ruin the original intent.
Discovery: People will modify original core values for ones that better suit sales and advancement.
Watch this: Link to 60 Minutes stem cell fraud story: HERE
Link to email fraud & sales pitch example: here and here
Link to other claims: ClinicalTrials.gov
 

FTC rules could hurt MLM supplement companies