The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday sent letters to marketers in the United States warning them to stop making baseless claims that their products and therapies can treat or cure COVID-19 and announced the FTC's intention to continue stamping out such claims this year
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th January, 2022) The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on Wednesday sent letters to marketers in the United States warning them to stop making baseless claims that their products and therapies can treat or cure COVID-19 and announced the FTC's intention to continue stamping out such claims this year.
"Americans are still suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic and scammers are still taking advantage of them by making false claims about cures and treatments," FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Samuel Levine said in a statement. "Our efforts to stamp out those claims will continue in 2022, and any marketers not heeding our cease-and-desist demands can expect to face consequences, including civil penalties."
The warning letters from the FTC called out several products and alleged treatments for COVID-19 that had already been identified as false, including peptide therapy, herbal remedies, ivermectin and various supplements. Some companies had claimed that "imprinted filtered water," nasal irrigation, and even seaweed extract can fight the novel coronavirus.
"However, currently there is no scientific evidence that any of these products can prevent or treat COVID-19 generally or any specific variant," the statement said.
In its letters, the FTC stated that one or more of the efficacy claims made by the marketers were unsubstantiated because they are not supported by scientific evidence, and therefore violated the Federal Trade Commission Act.
"The demands order the recipients to immediately stop making all claims that their products can prevent or treat COVID-19, and to notify the Commission within 48 hours about the specific actions they have taken to address the agency's concerns," the FTC said, adding that violators were subject to penalties of up to $43,792 per violation.
The FTC said this was the 11th set of warning letters it had issued since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020. It previously sent similar health-related letters to 405 companies and individuals. The latest set was sent to companies using social media platforms to sell their products, and notices were issued to the platforms as well.
