Scammers cash in on fake Ebola cures
Dark chocolate, silver and snake venom are among the bogus remedies being offered
PUBLISHED : Friday, 24 October, 2014, 10:32pm
UPDATED : Friday, 24 October, 2014, 10:32pm
McClatchy-Tribune in Washington
Amanda Smith, a graduate student from the University of Utah, works in a sealed lab on non-infective version of the Ebola virus to help discover a drug that is effective against a part of Ebola that is vulnerable to drugs in Salt Lake City, Utah. Photo: AFP
If you were looking for another reason to indulge in dark chocolate, a so-called natural health website recently offered one: It claimed the tasty treat can alleviate the excruciating symptoms of Ebola.
Unfortunately, a magic chocolate pill to treat Ebola sounds too good to be true because it is.
Scammers are cashing in on Americans' Ebola panic by offering bogus "cures" and treatments containing everything from herbal oils and dark chocolate to silver and snake venom, federal officials say.
Some websites offer personal protection kits that include full body "germ protection suits" rubber gloves, face masks, disinfectant spray and "natural" dietary supplements that sellers claim can prevent infection.
One such site, Dr Rima Truth Reports, at drrimatruthreports.com sold personal protection packs and family protection packs that included products called "Nano Silver" and "CBD organic dark chocolate bars". The site advertised these supposed nutrients as nontoxic treatments for Ebola, citing what it described as research funded by the US Department of Defence. The Food and Drug Administration and the Federal Trade Commission sent a letter last month to the New Jersey company that runs the Dr Rima website, Natural Solutions Foundation, warning that promoting silver or chocolate as a cure for Ebola was a violation of federal law.
In response to the letter, the company posted a statement online, arguing the agencies have no authority to regulate its products.
"FDA has been itching to ban silver and other natural remedies for decades because they are cheap, effective, compete successfully with antibiotics and are safe for everyone," said the statement.
The company then directed readers how to donate to its legal defence fund.
The letter was one of at least three such warnings the FDA and FTC sent last month to companies for advertising products that supposedly treat or cure Ebola, the virus that's devastated communities in parts of West Africa and killed one man in the US.
There are no FDA-approved vaccines or cures for Ebola, and experimental drugs to treat the disease are in very early stages of development
