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HIV and AIDS
Human Immunodeficiency Virus and
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

FDA/State AIDS Health Fraud Task Forces
Evaluating Medical Therapies

The Task Forces are a network of AIDS Health Fraud Task Forces throughout the United States of America has developed a proactive approach to combat these fraudulent product/treatment promotions affecting people with HIV/AIDS and their partners, family, and friends. The network, sponsored by the US Food & Drug Administration, strives to promote awareness, and prevent fraud through education that empowers individuals. The Task Forces have developed hotlines, workshops, conferences, and advocacy sharing as an alert mechanism to new fraudulent product promotion. Media has been utilized to broaden awareness in the diverse communities served. Members of the Task Force Network include persons living with HIV/AIDS, community based organizations, treatment advocates, health care practitioners, educators, federal and state government officials, and local health care departments. (Rosario Quintanilla Vior and Betty Dodson 1998)

• FDA, States Collaborate for Safety's Sake , FDA Consumer article describing the AIDS Fraud Task Forces and discussing their functions. (March 1996)
• FDA Sponsored AIDS Health Fraud Task Forces, list of the task forces with contact names. (March 14, 2001)
• US Network of AIDS Health Fraud Task Forces Empowers Communities to Make Informed Choices About Their Health Care, 12th World AIDS Conference, June 28-July 3,1998.
• ORA Health Fraud Contacts, April 4, 1999
• Buying Medical Products Online, a new FDA website to help you tell if a Website that sells medical products is legitimate, what you should do before you  buy medical products online. This site also contains a link to where you can report problem websites.
• Operation Cure All Battle Internet Health Fraud,  FDA has joined with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and others in a program aimed at stopping Internet scams that promote dietary supplements, devices, and other products as cures or treatments for HIV/AIDS and other life-threatening diseases. June 14, 2001.

Fraud Task Forces Web Pages

• AIDS Health Fraud Task Force of California was created to help expand the reach of public education campaign on AIDS Health Fraud. ---    http://www.aidsfraud.com  
• Colorado HIV/AID Consumer Information Task Force ---  http://www.rmi.net/citf/   
• Florida AIDS Health Fraud Task Force-- Investigate Before You Participate --- http://www.tcrs211.org/hiv/
• Georgia AIDS Therapy Information Network (GATIN)   http://www.gatin.com/
• Michigan AIDS Fraud Task Force ---  http://www.msms.org/msmsto/aboutmsms/committees.html
• Texas AIDS Health Fraud Information Network ---  http://www.tahfin.org

Dietary Supplements

• Food Labeling: Health Claims and Label Statements for Dietary Supplements; Strategy for Implementation of Pearson Court Decision.  Pages  67289-67291 [FR Doc. 99-31122 ]  [TXT] [PDF] [PRE-PUB] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is informing the public of its strategy to implement a recent court decision in Pearson v. Shalala (Pearson). The agency is taking this action to ensure that interested persons are aware of the steps it plans to follow to carry out the decision. FDA is also announcing how it plans to process petitions for dietary supplement health claims during the interim implementation period.
• Information About Dietary Supplements, from the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition and FDA.
• The Special Nutritionals Adverse Event Monitoring System, Have you or someone you know hasd an adverse reaction after taking a dietary supplement such as a vitamin or herbal product?  You can report thee problems to an on-line monitoring system managed by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition.  The system, which collects voluntarily submitted adverse, also tracks problems with "special nutritionals" such as infant formulas.
• An FDA Guide to Dietary Supplements, by Paula Kurtzweil, FDA Consumer, September/October 1998
• National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, NIH,  conducts and supports basic and applied research and training and disseminates information on complementary and alternative medicine to practitioners and the public.
• Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health web site (http://odp.od.nih.gov/ods/).  This Web site provides information about the NIH, Office of Dietary Supplements, including its origins, programs and activities, and scientific resources, and is organized to help you quickly and easily find the information you seek.
• U. S. Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit, January 15, 1999,  Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw, American Preventive Medical Association and Citizens for Health, Appellants v. Donna E. Shalala, Secretary, United States Department of Health and Human Services, et al., Appellees,  instructs FDA to define the term "significant scientific agreement" for Health Claims on dietary supplement labels and to allow the use of disclaimers on labels.  The decision is located at http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/common/opinions/199901/98-5043a.txt
• WARNING -- FDA is alerting consumers not to purchase or consume products, some of which are labeled as dietary supplements, that contain Gamma Butyrolactone (abbreviated as GBL).   FDA has also asked the companies that manufacture these products to voluntarily recall them.  FDA has received reports of serious health problems -- some that are potentially life-threatening -- associated with the use of these products.
  Additional Information, FDA Talk Paper T99-5, January 21, 1999

Articles

• Maryland Businessman Sentenced for Illegally Marketing Aloe Vera Compounds as AIDS and Cancer Treatments, December 5, 2001
• Buying Medical Products Online, a new FDA website to help you tell if a Website that sells medical products is legitimate, what you should do before you  buy medical products online. This site also contains a link to where you can report problem websites. (HHS News Release, December 20, 1999)
• FDA Takes Action Against Firm Marketing Unapproved Drugs, December 10, 1999. One of the products is MGN-3, a rice-bran extract, promoted as a treatment for cancer and HIV.  The firm involved is Lane Labs-USA, Allendale, NJ.
• FDA Warning Letters for Unapproved HIV/AIDS Test Kits, January 19, 2000
• How to Spot Health Fraud, Paula Kurtzwell, FDA Consumer November / December 1999
• FDA Issues Final Rule on OTC Drug Products Containing Colloidal Silver, saying all over the counter drug products containing colloidal silver or silver salts are not recognized as safe and effective and are misbranded. Federal Register Announcement "Over-the-Counter Drug Products Containing Colloidal Silver Ingredients or Silver Salts".  Pages  44653-44658 [FR Doc. 99-21253]  [Text Format] [PDF Format], August 17, 1999.
• Investigators Reports, Phony Doc Sentenced to Real Jail Time, by Carol Lewis, FDA Consumer, January-February 1999
• Ozone Generator Sentencing - On March 29, 1999, Kenneth Thiefault and his wife Mardol Barber were sentenced in a Florida court for their conviction last year on conspiracy, distribution of an ozone generator, mail fraud, wire fraud, and tax violations.  The court sentenced Mr. Thiefault to 72 months of incarceration (to be followed by 3 years of supervised release), imposed a $100,000 fine, and ordered payment of $14,400 in restitution.  The court sentenced the Ms. Barber to 33 months of incarceration (followed by 3 years of supervised release) and imposed a fine of $60,000.  Additionally, the court ordered both defendants to help the IRS compute their back taxes and banned both defendants from participating in any securities or telemarketing businesses in the future. The couple were making claims that the ozone generators can oxidize toxins in the body and cure everything from gangrene to cancer to AIDS.
• The MedWatch program is to enhance the effectiveness of postmarketing surveillance of medical products as they are used in clinical practice and to rapidly identify significant health hazards associated with these products.   Visit the MedWatch page and learn how to work with your health care professional to report possible adverse reactions.  The identify of the patient is kept confidential.
• MedWatch: FDA's 'Heads Up on Medical Product Safety , FDA Consumer article discussing the MedWatch program to   improve the safety of drugs, biologics, medical devices, dietary supplements, medical foods, infant formulas, and other regulated products by encouraging health care professionals to report serious adverse events and product defects. (November-December 1998)
• Businessman Sentenced to Over Five Years for Selling Bogus HIV-Testing Kits (February 17, 1999)
• FDA Warns Consumers About Two Unapproved Home-Use Test Kits, FDA is advising consumers and pharmacists about two unapproved, fraudulently marketed home-use test kits distributed by Lei-Home Access Care.
  September 26, 1997
• Access to Medical Treatment H.R. 746, Statement by Lead Deputy Commissioner, FDA (April 22, 1998)
• An FDA Guide to Choosing Medical Treatments (June 1995)
  Easy to read HTML format
  Easy to read  PDF   format
• Testimony before Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal Justice, Randolph Wykoff, M.D., Director of AIDS Office (May 27, 1993)

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