FTC tries to take down “the cure for the common cold”
Forget about the hundreds of drugs on the market whose side effects include death-our almighty government protectors certainly have. Instead, organizations like the Federal Trade Commission have set their sights on something they seem to think poses a more clear and present danger-vitamins.
This time, they’re trying to take down “the cure for the common cold,” a product called Airborne.
In fact, the FTC has demanded that the Airborne Health company pay consumers back for as many as six purchases-a total of about $30 million in refunds nationwide! And in a court settlement reached earlier this month, the makers of Airborne ponied up an additional $6.5 million in a class action lawsuit.
So what was Airborne’s crime? Did it lead to massive coronaries or turn people into monkeys? Nope. The FTC is targeting them for false advertising, saying that company falsely claimed that its products can cure or prevent the common cold.
I’m sure you’ve heard of Airborne – the little orange tablets that you drop into a glass of water to produce a fizzy concoction of minerals, vitamins and herbs that – according to the package – wards off the bugs that cause the common cold. It’s been advertised extensively on the radio and on TV, and it has been endorsed (or maybe “anointed” is a better way to put it) by Oprah Winfrey.
Lydia Payne, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said, “There is no credible evidence that Airborne products will reduce the severity or duration of colds, or provide any tangible benefits for people who are exposed to germs in crowded places,” Payne said.
Oh really? I beg to differ.
According to the information on Airborne’s website, their product contains a selection of vitamins and herbs. Many of the ingredients you’ll find in Airborne are the same ones I’ve written glowingly about – magnesium, Echinacea, selenium, vitamin C, Vitamin E, zinc – all of which have amazingly beneficial health properties. In fact, what I’ve told you about some of these items had more to do with their cancer-fighting and brain- boosting ability than with their powers to battle colds.
Regardless, the fact is, these ingredients DO have cold-fighting abilities. What Airborne is being called on the carpet for is that they were saying their product prevents colds. What vitamins C and minerals like zinc and herbs like Echinacea can do is reduce the duration of colds and the symptoms of colds like cough, sore throat, etc. Is this the big wool that the FTC thinks Airborne has pulled over our eyes?
This is silly semantics. Getting these ingredients into your body is not a bad thing. In fact, I would suggest that for many of these key vitamins, herbs, and minerals, Airborne isn’t nearly enough – you should be taking them in higher doses, and not in a blended product, but on their own.
This lawsuit is nothing less than a small battle in the war against natural and herbal alternative medicines. A war that’s being fought on behalf of Big Pharma by government agencies like the FTC and the FDA, who are swayed by Big Pharma’s big bucks.
Maybe Airborne deserved a slap on the wrist for somewhat overstating their case, but the $30 million whack they received from the FTC was typical of the government’s negative view (thanks to Big Pharma’s influence) on natural medicine companies. Unlike Big Pharma, these companies can’t absorb multi-million dollar fines. And a setback like this could put Airborne out of business – and that’s probably what Big Pharma is hoping for.
