Scam Alert: No Shampoo or Dietary Supplement Will Protect You from Swine Flu

  • Share
  • Read Later

When people freak out, you can be assured that other people—bad people—will try to take advantage of the situation. Millions of Americans are still waiting for the chance to get the H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine, and amid the hysteria, all sorts of products and websites have arisen that claim they can help prevent or cure the illness. Guess what? The makers of these products just want your money.

For many people, swine flu fears have changed everyday interactions with co-workers, kids’ soccer teammates, college friends, and the folks sitting in the next pew at church. As the NY Times summed up, swine flu has given rise to new rules of etiquette and hygiene. Office colleagues are wary of sharing cheese and dip or unwrapped candy. Churches have advised congregants to not shake hands—no sharing wine in the communal cup either. Colleges have asked students to stop playing beer pong, and not just because one day they’ll lead the world and need all the brain cells they can get.

(Want to test your swine flu knowledge and distinguish between myths and facts? Check out Time.com’s H1N1 Quiz.)

People are understandably freaked out, and they want a quick miracle cure, something to protect themselves and their families from an illness that can be deadly. Seizing an opportunity, tons of products have popped up with dubious swine-flu-fighting claims.

As the Washington Post and Consumerist have reported, the FDA has found more than 140 drugs and other products that make completely unproven claims that they combat swine flu. In a consumer warning, the FDA describes some of these unapproved, unproven products:

a shampoo said to protect against the H1N1 flu virus

a dietary supplement said to protect infants and young children from contracting the virus

a “new” supplement said to cure H1N1 flu infection within four to eight hours

a spray that claims to leave a layer of ionic silver on one’s hands that kills the flu virus
several diagnostic tests that have not been approved to detect the H1N1 flu virus

an electronic instrument whose sellers claim uses “photobiotic energy” and “deeply penetrating mega-frequency life-force energy waves” to strengthen the immune system and prevent symptoms associated with H1N1 viral infection

Some further recommendations from the FDA:

Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) and Relenza (zanamivir) are the only two FDA-approved antiviral drugs for treatment and prophylaxis of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. In addition to their approved labeling, these drugs have been issued Emergency Use Authorizations by FDA that describe specific authorized uses during the H1N1 public health emergency.

Patients who buy prescription drugs from Web sites operating outside the law are at increased risk of suffering life-threatening adverse events such as side effects from inappropriately using prescription medications, dangerous drug interactions, contaminated drugs, and impure or unknown ingredients found in unapproved drugs.

In other words, there’s a chance you’ll feel way worse than if you actually had swine flu.