Thursday, January 11, 2007

Busted

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission targeted the marketing of four weight-loss pills, fining them $25 million for false advertising claims. Xenadrine EFX, One A Day Weight Smart, CortiSlim and TrimSpa were assessed fines for advertising unproven product efficacy, from claims about swift weight loss to the prevention of cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. The products will remain on shelves but must adjust their marketing campaigns to remove false claims.

FTC chairperson Deborah Platt Majoras suggested that in a study investigating the weight-loss efficacy Xenadrine, for example, those who took the pill actually lost less weight than those taking a placebo. Still, diet pills represent a 1.6 billion dollar industry, fueled largely, as we see, by celebrity endorsements and emotional pipe dreams.

2 comments:

PTC said...

Guess we shouldn't waste our money then.

Unknown said...

The money that goes into the false advertising and claims, should be redirected into eating disorders research and prevention. The FDA should do a better job at controlling dangerous pills, and the public should realize that NOTHING is fast when it comes to losing weight, if it is healthy for you. We are too into the "get it fast" mode, and it can kill someone, and has, not to mention the message it sends to people with eating disorders.