COVID-19: FDA fights wave of fraudulent products
As of Thursday, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says it has warned 42 companies for marketing fraudulent, unproven products to treat, prevent or diagnose coronavirus disease (COVID-19).The products include some familiar “bogus” remedies, including “miracle mineral solution,” a chlorine bleach mixture that FDA has warned against for the last decade, and colloidal silver. Other products caught up in the enforcement sweep include unapproved drugs, herbal remedies, tinctures and cannabidiol (CBD).
“We take seriously our responsibility to determine whether the medical products coming into our country are fraudulent, counterfeit or illegitimate, and take action as needed,” said Judy McMeekin, FDA associate commissioner for regulatory affairs.
Last month, a federal court issued a temporary injunction against the Genesis II Church after it refused to stop distributing miracle mineral solution. “Despite a previous warning, the Genesis II Church of Healing has continued to actively place consumers at risk by peddling potentially dangerous and unapproved chlorine dioxide products,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn said at the time.
The 42 warning letters appear to be just the tip of the iceberg. FDA says it has found hundreds of fraudulent products, including drugs, test kits and personal protective equipment (PPE) as part of its “Operation Quack Hack” in recent weeks.
“We continue to work with online marketplaces, domain name registrars, payment processors and social media websites to remove from their platforms products that fraudulently claim to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose or cure COVID-19 and to keep those products from reappearing under different names,” FDA writes, noting that it has made hundreds of complaints to various platforms so far.
FDA