On guard against health rip-off.

"Get a Thinner, Firmer, Cuter Body!" shouts the headline. The national magazine ad claims this product can help teens achieve the "perfect body," with noticeable results in as little as 14 days. Not only does the promotion offer a money-back guarantee, but you get a gift just for trying it. Is this a great deal or what?

Buyer Beware

If you're watching your weight, watch your wallet, too. Ads saying you can drop dozens of pounds quickly, lose weight while you sleep, slim down without sacrifice, and easily keep weight off for good are making promises they can't keep.

When it comes to protecting yourself as a health care consumer, always remember rule number one: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

At the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), attorney Lesley Fair makes it her business to stop fraudulent health claims. Recent enforcement cases targeted suspicious programs with full-page ads in teen magazines. "In fact, when you sent in your money for what you thought was going to be some miracle," explains Fair, "it was simply a brochure about calorie counting."

Recent FTC actions have stopped many companies from making other deceptive claims. But it's hard to sift facts from hype. An April 1997 ad by one company says that while other systems might use similar methods, only its customers get the complete "instruction manual" with "information and advice that constitutes the entire program." Without carefully reading between ! the lines, would most teens figure out the pamphlet is the only thing they get for $15?

Dreams for Sale 

Who doesn't want to look great and be popular? Rip-off ads tell girls if they just lose those extra pounds, guys will line up for dates. Guys are told to bulk up with muscle-building pills and supplements, body-building equipment, and even illegal steroid substitutes.

Don't worry about heredity, body type, growth rate, maturity, physical training, endurance training, and other factors that affect your appearance, say the rip-off artists. Don't ask whether products are safe, they say. And don't even question whether the products have been scientifically proven to be effective. Just pay up, and you too can become the perfect, happy teenager.

"Personally, I wonder about anything that portrays a certain image," says Dr. Deborah Smith of the Adolescent Medicine Section at the University of Virginia's Children's Medical Center. By reinforcing decades-old stereotypes of girls as pretty little things to be desired by the opposite sex, and of boys as strong, macho men, rip-off promoters sell a limiting picture of who teens are and what they can be. From a health point of view, says Dr. Smith, this can make it harder for maturing teens to find realistic role models and accept themselves.

Instant Miracles?

Health experts agree that the only effective way to lose weight and keep it off is to reduce calorie intake, exercise regularly, and eat a sensible, well-balanced diet. But that takes time, so unscrupulous promoters promising "instant" and "guaranteed" results with "fat-burning" tablets, body-building products, and exercise equipment find a ready market. People want to believe there's an easier way, so they listen to pseudo-scientific sales pitches.

Can asthma medicine melt away fat on flabby thighs? When companies started selling skin creams containing aminophylline--a drug used to treat asthma--customers hoping to inhibit "fat-retaining" enzymes lined up to pay $10 per ounce. Not only was there no generally accepted scientific proof that the creams worked, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warned about rashes and potentially life-threatening allergic reactions.

"Legal," But Is It Safe?

Just because a company offers a product for sale lawfully, that doesn't guarantee it's safe and effective. Depending on how it's marketed, a product can be considered by the FDA a food, a drug, or a cosmetic. Different legal standards apply to each category.

Under present law, dietary supplements (such as nonprescription vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and herbal preparations) are not subject to the same pre-market safety evaluations required for drugs. Instead of a company having to prove its product safe beforehand, it's up to the FDA or others to prove a suspect "supplement" is unsafe.

By giving people greater freedom to buy products, the law places more responsibility on consumers to guard against unproven claims. The FTC's Lesley Fair encourages both teens and adults to think twice before laying out money for supplements that make extravagant claims. "A lot of these products can be very expensive," she says. "Some can be dangerous."

One group of products that concerns both the FTC and FDA contains plant-derived chemicals called ephedra alkaloids. When the products are marketed as a "legal" alternative to MDMA, an illegal street drug, the clear targets are teens and young adults. These products have caused more than 800 cases of psychosis, heart attack, seizure, and other adverse reactions. Twenty-year-old Peter Schlendorf died just hours after taking eight pills he bought at a Florida health food store while vacationing during college spring break. The FDA issued warnings, and several states, including Florida and New York, have since outlawed the preparations. Unfortunately, however, they're still sold in some states. Meanwhile, other young people like Peter have been victimized.

DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) supplements were banned by the FDA in 1985. They had been promoted to slow aging, build muscles, bum fat, and prevent many major diseases. But now marketed as dietary supplements, they don't need FDA approval. Not only have claims been disputed, but large amounts of DHEA can cause serious side effects.

"Cure-alls"--Shocking Cases

People suffering from serious illnesses, such as AIDS or cancer, are especially vulnerable to health rip-offs.,But you can feel just as desperate even if your problem is "only" a bad case of acne.

Anxious to cash in on the broadest market possible, health fraud promoters offer "cure-alls"--products good for whatever ails you. For only $1,380, patients could buy the REM SuperPro. "It has been known to shatter cancer cells and AIDS cells in people," claimed one salesperson in Falconer, New York. Another distributor urged patients to use the device on children to cure chicken pox and other illnesses.

Of course, the device didn't cure anything at all. It just sent an electrical current through patients' bodies. But it took a three-year probe by the FDA, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Department of Justice before three men were finally convicted for selling unapproved medical devices and drugs.

"Promoters of quackery know how to appeal to every aspect of human vulnerability," says Stephen Barrett, M.D., a board member of the National Council Against Health Fraud (NCAHF). "What sells is not the quality of their products but the ability to influence their audience."

A High Cost

No one knows for sure how much Americans spend on bogus health promotions each year. Many victims--both teens and adults--feel sheepish and don't want to admit that they've been conned. But FDA estimates range as high as $27 billion a year--not small change by anyone's standards.

Health rip-offs can literally be a matter of life or death. Vitamin overdoses can be toxic. Illegal steroids and steroid substitutes can stunt growth, lead to testicular cancer, and cause steroid rage and other psychological problems.

Bogus AIDS cures and scams are a prime enforcement priority for both the FTC and FDA. The marketplace is full of myths about products that supposedly prevent or stop the spread of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases. Vulnerable teens who fail to find out the full facts can literally lose their lives.

Even if health rip-offs aren't toxic, or poisonous, they still can keep people from seeking necessary and effective medical care. No one knows just how many lives have been lost that could have been saved if someone had seen through a quack cure in time.

Tip-Offs to Rip-Offs

"It's very upsetting and of great concern to us when advertisers of questionable products specifically aim their products at teens, hoping that these young people won't have the ability to sniff out these questionable practices," says Fair. "We think teens are a lot smarter than that."

Here are some warning signs:

* If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. There are no magical medical cure-alls.

* Be on the alert if the product claims to be a secret formula or miraculous breakthrough. "Scientists share their knowledge as part of the process of scientific development," says NCAHF's Dr. Barrett. "Quacks may keep their methods secret to prevent others from demonstrating that they don't work."

* Watch out for guarantees and testimonials from "satisfied customers." Anecdotes are interesting, but they don't prove anything scientifically. Besides, the spokesman in that infomercial is probably an actor who has never even used the product. And there's no guarantee the company will cooperate or even still be in business when you want your money back.

Are the promoters critical of conventional medical treatments? Maybe you should be critical of the products they're pushing.

* Beware of pseudomedical jargon, such as "balances your system," that tries to make a product sound scientific when it isn't. Also watch out for weasel words that sound great but offer no evidence of specific health benefits.

* Check out all claims. If a promotion says it's supported by medical evidence, check the sources yourself. Quacks often misinterpret studies or rely on unscientific studies. Sometimes the "scientific evidence" doesn't exist. Don't fall for phony credentials either.

* Always read the fine print Then read it again. Be especially wary of disclosures that seem to contradict what's said in the main body of the ad. While energetic people party in one television commercial for a "multivitamin you can feel," tiny print at the bottom of the screen says none of the statements has been reviewed by the FDA. Moreover, the disclosure continues, the ad makes no representations intended to diagnose or treat disease. Translation: Don't rely on anything you hear or see in the ad.

Taking Action

Avoid buying into any health promotion--legitimate or otherwise--without doing your homework first. Don't stop with the ad, article, or conversation that sparked your interest in a product. Talk to health professionals at your doctor's office, the county board of health, or your school health clinic.

Do your own research, too. Read magazine articles both for and against the treatment. Consider the reliability of each source. Articles in the FDA Consumer, Harvard Health Letter, or JAMA--The Journal of the American Medical Association, for example, are more reliable than store-sponsored newsletters or magazines paid to advertise questionable products.

Link up with the Internet. While some sites should spark skepticism, others give a wealth of useful information. Use the best of the Net, and you'll be a wiser consumer. (See "Don't Get Caught in the Web.")

When you come across a suspicious print ad, commercial, or Web page, don't just ignore it. Even if a misleading ad in a national teen magazine fools only .1 percent of readers, that can mean more than 1,000 people are being ripped off. By contacting your state attorney general's office, the FTC, or other agencies, you can help stop health rip-offs and keep potentially dangerous products from being promoted. By being an informed consumer, you can avoid rip-offs and make health care decisions that really benefit you.

for more information

Food and Drug Administration--Chicago District 300 South Riverside Plaza, Suite 550 S Chicago, IL 60606 Brochure: "Quackery Targets Teens," single copy free.

Federal Trade Commission Chicago Regional Office 55 East Monroe, Suite 1860 Chicago, IL 60603 Brochures: "Fraudulent Health Claims: Don't Be Foled," "Indoor Tanning," "The Skinny on Dieting," single copies free with self-addressed, stamped envelope; or see website: www.ftc.gov