FDA Tells Manufacturers to Stop Marketing Bogus Cancer Cures

While a wide variety of herbal and so-called "all natural" cures for cancer are applauded by many individuals in the general population, a majority of those in the medical community say these "miracle cures" are dangerous. Cancer doctors and myriad other health professionals take the position that, even if the herbs themselves are not harmful, many cancer patients die prematurely because they abandon medically-proven treatments in favor of the herbal mixtures.

Heeding the medical community's calls for action on the issue, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently sent warning letters to 28 of the nation's manufacturers of 187 herbal concoctions that claim to cure cancer. Each FDA letter inventories the company's herbal product offerings while detailing the seller's claims that their herbal preparations contain proven cancer fighting properties. In the letter, the FDA cites each seller of these miracle cures with numerous violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA), legislation that governs the distribution of substances that are designed and intended to ameliorate malignant disease.

In its warning to the 28 herbal merchants, the FDA stated that each seller of the substances in question must abandon their current marketing strategies-all claims of cancer cures and/or improvements must be removed from any and all forms of advertising and packaging within 15 days of receipt of the FDA warning letter. Each manufacturer is required to submit, in writing, detailed information outlining the steps they have taken to comply with the FDA directive. Failure to submit such written documentation may result in legal actions taken against the company with no further notice-such actions to include the possibility of product seizures and marketing injunctions. The FDA warns consumers to beware of any herbal or other product that is advertised to cure cancer, but has no research or clinical evidence to substantiate the claim.

In its initiative to put a stop to the fraudulent, misleading and/or intentionally deceptive advertising for these herbal cancer cures (each marketed almost exclusively on the internet), the FDA is working in concert with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), as well as Canadian and Mexican authorities who are also concerned about the "miracle cancer cure" problem in their country. The joint enforcement venture between the FDA and FTC has been hailed as long overdue by critics of the herbal cures and government agencies alike.

It is hoped that the FDA's cease and desist directive to the makers and sellers of the herbal cures will dramatically reduce the marketing of these substances. The FDA warns consumers who may have used any of the questionable herbal products to see their doctor in order to determine if the products may have worsened or seriously endangered their health.

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