Anti-cancer: you are being deceived again
Beetroot is sold as a cure for stroke
Alexey Tymoshenko, GZT.RULast week, information about the drug "anticancer" was published on Radio of Russia.
For 11 thousand rubles, his preventive course was advertised, which allegedly does not allow stroke to develop – a dangerous disease associated with brain damage as a result of rupture or blockage of a vessel. Correspondent GZT.RU I called the specified phone number and conducted my investigation, as a result of which it turned out that under the guise of a medicine, an ordinary food product is offered, not even registered as a bioactive additive (dietary supplement).
Pink Light of Healing You can buy the so-called medicine only by pre-order for its delivery: the substance is not sold in pharmacies or stores.
In the delivery service, praising the products, GZT did not introduce himself.EN the interlocutor stressed that the drug is a medicinal product, not a biologically active additive. According to him, beet extract has amazing qualities, has no contraindications and can be used in conjunction with other drugs.
However, sometimes the representative of the company advertising the product was confused in terminology. For example, according to our interlocutor, it is especially valuable in the preparation that it "does not contain chemical additives." However, it is known that a vacuum or an electromagnetic field is not a chemical substance. Another "anticancer" is positioned as a parapharmaceutical, which also contradicts the affirmative answer to the question of whether it is a drug or dietary supplement. By definition, a parapharmaceutical is a non–medicinal product, which includes biologically active additives (dietary supplements), cosmetics, dressings and related medical products. If "anticancer" is not a dietary supplement, then it may belong to the category of cosmetics. But then how does it clean the vessels of the brain and why should it be taken orally? Naturally, there were no links to Anticancer in the PubMed database of medical publications.
A deeper dive into the problem allowed us to clarify a number of other interesting details. So, it turned out to be impossible to find out who is actually the manufacturer of the drug. The manufacturer of the "anticancer" in the advertisement was named the Research Institute of Human Health. But this organization is not listed in the list of institutes of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. There is, however, a Health Research Institute – a commercial organization unrelated to the Russian Academy of Sciences/RAMS that produces a number of biologically active additives. There, the production of the "anticancer" was not confirmed.
Table set There is no such drug in the register of medicines.
And he really is not a BAD. It was possible to find a patent for the "anticancer" on the website ru-patent.info : "The invention relates to the food industry. The proposed powder mixture contains table beet powder and a concentrated biologically active yeast preparation." "Anticancer" in the form of a mixture is intended in the food industry, as well as vinegar, table salt or sets of spices for cooking pilaf. All permits for it are a sanitary and epidemiological conclusion.
In other words, under the guise of medicine, in fact, a food product worth about five cans of black sturgeon caviar or 10 kg of balyk is sold.
Alexey Vodovozov, a toxicologist who deals with the problem of selling dietary supplements under the guise of medicines, commented on the advertising of "anti-cancer" and the very fact of the appearance of such drugs. The expert says that such advertising is made with an eye to a special audience – the elderly. The psychology of these consumers is such that "they are more likely to believe strangers and strangers than their own children. Sellers of "wonderful medicines" are using this feature with might and main, instilling in the elderly that children feel sorry for money for their treatment, that they are just waiting for the death of a pensioner to take possession of an apartment," explains Vodovozov. The situation is aggravated by the fact that people tend to believe in miracles, in a pill for everything. "It's so simple: eat one pill and get rid of all diseases and misfortunes at once. This is especially true for patients suffering from severe, for example, oncological diseases. Scammers are selling the most expensive thing that can be – hope," says Vodovozov.
The mechanism of work of drug sellers is uncomplicated. According to Vodovozov, fraudsters often use lists of patients of district polyclinics who buy at a reasonable price at the registry: "If a pensioner is addressed by his first name, his diagnosis is accurately called and they announce that the city government is taking care of him or a national project has been developed, this immediately inspires confidence."
Vodovozov points to the toothlessness of legislation and law enforcement agencies. The maximum that fraudsters can face is a fine of several tens of thousands of rubles, which is compensated with money from one box of "miracle potions" sold. After all, with the real cost of packaging at 25-30 rubles, it is sold thousands of times more expensive.
People's anger As it turned out, victims have already appeared in the story of the "anti-cancer".
In the popular blogging service Livejournal, there is a discussion of the drug scam. "Quite by chance, I witnessed a grandiose scam related to the distribution of medicine. My mother–in-law called me and asked me to clarify what kind of magic drug "anticancer" worth 20 thousand rubles, which is prescribed by phone and delivered by courier," writes user serpoff.
"The advertisement of the drug "anticancer" claims that it has an antitumor effect and stimulates the recovery of the body after surgery. In fact, it consists of dried beetroot juice, a complex of amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Thus, "anticancer" is not the latest cure for cancer, but a powdered table beet. The manufacturing plant produces beet powder and sells it to small firms that pack it in branded packaging for subsequent sale to customers. The complex of amino acids specified in the composition of the drug is ordinary brewer's yeast," demark reports.
However, the fight against the "anti-cancer" has not yet acquired the scope of the previous similar scandal, when disgruntled bloggers constantly blocked the work of the telephone center for several days, through which the biologically active additive "gravikol" was sold under the guise of medicine for 20 thousand rubles. Some time later, the Federal Antimonopoly Service announced that it intended to initiate a case regarding false advertising – and that was the end of it. It was not possible to find any mention of "Gravikol" on the FAS website.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru09.07.2009