'Anti-Aging' Company Settles With FTC Over False Claims
New York-based Telomerase Activation Sciences on Wednesday agreed to stop making false and unsubstantiated claims about two “anti-aging” products under a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) settlement order.The FTC said the company lacked scientific evidence to support claims that its capsules, powders and creams could provide anti-aging and other health benefits.
Specifically, the FTC said the company falsely advertised that two of its products prevent and repair DNA damage, restore aging immune systems, increase bone density, reverse the effects of aging skin and eyes and prevent or reduce the risk of cancer.
“In addition to falsely claiming that some of these supposed results were supported by scientific evidence, TA Sciences allegedly misrepresented that a 2012 segment it paid for on The Suzanne Show was independent, educational programing instead of advertising for TA-65MD. Also, the FTC charged that TA Sciences deceptively represented that consumers in its ads were independent users, expressing impartial opinions of the product. In fact, they received free bottles of TA-65MD, worth up to $4,000, in exchange for their endorsement,” FTC said.
The proposed order settling the FTC’s charges prohibits the company from making any representation about the health benefits, performance, efficacy, safety or side effects unless the representation is not misleading and is supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.
The order further prohibits the company from misrepresenting that any paid commercial advertising is independent programing, or failing to disclose any material connection between a product endorser and the company. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
FTC