No Silver Lining for Seasilver

[Guest guest]

I am not a fan of Seasilver, nor of their marketing practices, but I wish the

government were as vigilent against false claims of the curative powers of

pharmacuetical drugs and the dangers involved as they are for the seasilver type

compounds. That would be some real protection for the american public.

 

I'm sure that almost any average pharmacuetical is much more dangerous, which

usually does not cure and usually causes toxic damage in the process.

 

I feel that any danger involved in taking seasilver would be very, very minor if

at all. I wish that I could say the same for all of the pharmacuticals.

 

my 2 cents,

Frank

 

 

http://consumeraffairs.com/news03/seasilver.html

 

No Silver Lining for Seasilver

 

June 19, 2003

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

announced coordinated actions against two companies - both charged with making

unsubstantiated medical claims in promoting the supposed cure-all " Seasilver. "

 

The agencies' actions against Seasilver USA, Inc. and Americaloe, Inc. are

designed to halt the fraudulent marketing of Seasilver and to seize the

available inventory of the product. It's part of a continuing crackdown on

unscrupulous marketers who prey on consumers with serious illnesses.

 

The FTC alleges that the defendants promoted Seasilver as safe and effective to

treat or cure 650 diseases, including AIDS and cancers, and to cause substantial

and permanent weight loss.

 

" The FTC and the FDA are committed to aggressive action against fraudulent

claims in the dietary supplement market, " said Timothy J. Muris, Chairman of the

FTC. " Like the snake oil salesman of old, Seasilver claimed to cure 650

different health problems, including such serious diseases as cancer, AIDS, and

diabetes. These claims may keep consumers from seeking appropriate treatment.

They certainly empty consumers' pockets. "

 

" This is the sort of intolerable health fraud I had in mind when I announced six

months ago that the FDA will take vigorous actions against firms that prey on

consumers and patients by selling worthless dietary supplements as cures for

serious and chronic diseases and conditions, " said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., PhD,

the FDA Commissioner. " Using these ineffective products is worse than wasting

money - it may cause irreparable harm by delaying or replacing approved

treatments that can bring actual health benefits. "

 

The FTC alleges that the defendants' ads and promotional materials represented

that Seasilver: (1) treats or cures cancer; (2) enables nine out of ten diabetes

patients to stop their insulin medication; and (3) causes rapid, substantial,

and permanent weight loss without dieting. The FTC charges that these and other

claims go beyond existing scientific evidence on any of the ingredients

contained in the product, and therefore, are false and unsubstantiated.

 

In a complaint filed in federal district court in Nevada on June 12, 2003, the

FTC alleges that two Carlsbad, California-based companies, Seasilver USA. Inc.

and Americaloe, Inc., their principals, Bela and Jason Berkes; Brett Rademacher,

doing business as Netmark International and NetmarkPro; and David R. Friedman,

D.C., violated the FTC Act by making false and unsubstantiated claims for

Seasilver. Seasilver is a liquid multi-vitamin/mineral/amino acid dietary

supplement that purports to contain, among other ingredients, aloe vera,

phyto-silver (purportedly a plant-based silver), sea vegetables, the herb Pau

D'Arco, and cranberry concentrate. A 32-oz. bottle of Seasilver costs $39.95.

 

According to the FTC, the defendants promote Seasilver through national

television and radio infomercials, Web sites at www.seasilver.com and

www.myseasilver.com/main, spam emails, and a glossy 28-page consumer brochure.

The defendants publicly claimed that Seasilver USA earns $180 million annually

from selling Seasilver.

 

In addition, the complaint alleges that the defendants represented, without

scientific support, that Seasilver treats or cures AIDS, diabetes, lyme disease,

and various cancers; cures chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; enables

post-heart attack patients to reduce their heart medication, eliminates high

blood pressure; and is 100 percent safe for pregnant and lactating women, senior

citizens, children, and infants. Finally, the complaint alleges that defendants

provided deceptive advertisements and promotional materials to distributors for

use in their marketing and sale of Seasilver.

 

At the FTC's request, on June 13, 2003, the federal district court issued a

temporary restraining order prohibiting the defendants from making the

challenged claims and freezing their assets. In addition, the FTC is seeking

preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, including restitution to consumers

who purchased the product.

 

On June 16, 2003, acting at the FDA's request, the United States Attorney for

the Southern District of California filed a complaint seeking the seizure of

Seasilver USA's Seasilver product. On June 17, 2003, United States Marshals

seized 132,480 bottles of Seasilver, worth nearly $5.3 million from Seasilver

USA's San Diego headquarters.

 

The Government's complaint alleges that, although Seasilver USA markets

Seasilver as a dietary supplement, it promotes it on the Internet and in

marketing materials sent with the product as a treatment for serious diseases

including cancer, diabetes, hypoglycemia, psoriasis, hepatitis, and arthritis.

These claims cause Seasilver to be an unapproved new drug under the Federal

Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the Act). Such claims also cause Seasilver to be

misbranded under the Act because it lacks adequate directions for use.

Seasilver's labeling also contains claims such as " cleanses your vital organs "

and " oxygenates your body's cells. " According to the complaint, these claims

show that Seasilver is intended to affect the structure or function of the body.

Because the claims are unsubstantiated, Seasilver is misbranded under the Act.

 

In addition to the violations caused by its product claims, Seasilver USA has

had obgoing sanitation problems at its manufacturing facility. As recently as

December of last year, FDA cited the company for using equipment that cannot be

properly cleaned and for permitting its employees to work the production line in

street clothes. Employees in facilities like Seasilver USA's must wear garments

that protect against contamination of food and food containers.

Tips for Consumers

Consumers should ask the following questions before deciding whether to purchase

a health-related product:

 

What is the product?

What is the evidence that this product will do whatever the product purports

to do (e.g., counteract the disease or medical condition being relieved; lead to

better results than conventional treatment?)

Have results from studies of this product been published in any peer-reviewed

medical journals? Can I have copies of the publications or references to these

publications?

What are the training and credentials of the provider?

Is the provider willing to communicate with my primary care physician and/or

my health insurance company?

 

The FTC, the FDA, and other sister agencies have compiled a list of valuable and

reliable sources of health information for consumers. The FTC Web site at

www.ftc.gov/cureall, and the FDA Web site at www.fda.gov, provides direct links

to these sources of information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gettingwell- / Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

 

To , e-mail to: Gettingwell-

Or, go to our group site: Gettingwell

 

 

 

SBC DSL - Now only $29.95 per month!

 

 

[Guest guest]

I used Seasilver for about a year and I had phenomenol results using

it. As for any " direct " danger from drinking it, I'd have to say

there probably was none. " If " the claims made by distributors were

exaggerated, as the FTC/FDA claims, there could perhaps be

some " danger " to anyone with a life threatening ailment who relied

solely on the Seasilver for help. However, Seasilver itself said it

was a foundational product, and it was my understanding that if

someone had serious illness' they should probably be using other

remedies to target a specific condition as well. Some people would

seek out a doctor. In my case I had horrible pains in my knees and

ankles and one shoulder. Water is the proper product to put out a

campfire, and generally a bucket will do it. However, with a forest

fire in my joints I knew I needed alot more than a bucket. I drank

my first 32 oz. bottle of Seasilver in just over 3 days, knowing that

whatever the problem was, and considering its severity, that I needed

much more than the " normal " amount of 1 oz a day to see if I could be

any benefit. The first day my pain subsided considerably. By the

end of the first bottle I was walking normally with virtually no

pain. I later switched to another similar product which is as good,

or perhaps better, however this company doesn't make

the " exaggerated " claims that Seasilver did, and they also have some

other complimentary products to go along with their liquid product.

Personally, I quit taking pharmaceutical drugs many years ago as I

understood then they do not heal anything, but they do cover up

symptoms - never addressing the underlying cause of the problem(s).

 

I'd love to say I could get everything my cells need just from eating

the right foods, but unfortunately in todays world even the food is

generally very lacking in nutritional value, and doesn't meet the

needs of the body to heal and repair itself without additional

supplementation. Then the question of what kind of supplements are

best arises. Even most supplements are virtually worthless, made

from the cheapest forms and containing minimum amounts of

various " synthetic " copycats of natures " real " elements. For

example, who would eat coal tar to get various vitamins and minerals,

but that's where many of the synthesized varieties come from.

Pharmaceutical drugs are dead substances masquerading as " life

giving " . If it doesn't have life, it's not going to give life.

Unfortunately, synthetics may steal more than they give. Oh sure,

the XXXX brand of whatever may prevent you from dying from heart dis-

ease, but when it kills you from the liver disease which it caused,

is that any consolidation to the family left behind? It's

interesting how the drug companies are able to sell several other

drugs to alleviate the symptoms created from the drugs that were

supposed to alleviate the original symptoms of the first problem

which was initially addressed. Talk about a racket.

 

This so-called crackdown on supplement companies isn't about

protecting anyone from anything. Considering that JAMA has reported

close to 200,000 people die yearly from " prescribed medications

properly taken " , I suspect it's the bottom line of a multi billion

dollar drug industry that's being protected. Compare this to the

number of people killed by vitamins and minerals, none reported, the

governments purported concern for my safety is in my humble opinion

rather misdirected. Supplements that cost pennies could cost them

their power, control, and billions of dollars to their friends. The

question of safety of numerous " approved " drugs is readily apparent

when looking at the rate they are put into the marketplace, and the

rate they are removed when people begin dieing from their side

effects.

 

No doctor, drug, vitamin, etc. ever cured anything or anyone. No

doctor is responsible for your health. When " we " take responsibility

for our own health, when " we " begin to give our body what it needs to

operate properly, the body, miraculous wonder that it is will cure

and heal itself.

 

Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, and several hundred other ailments

so prevalent today just 100 years ago were virtually unheard of.

Could the hundreds of toxic chemicals found right now in virtually

every home in America under sinks, in closets, used to wash clothes

and bedding that are in almost constant contact with our skin

throughout every day of every year of our life, automatic dish

washers outgassing fumes, building materials and carpets etc., that

are outgassing pollution into the air you breathe be part of the

problem? Perhaps they " are " the problem.

 

Numerous doctors and researchers have been literally run out of the

country for providing methods of allowing the body to heal and repair

itself. Yes, that's right - right here in the good ole USA. They

were helping patients that orthodox medicine had sent home to die get

well. Wow, that's a real serious problem - at least it is to certain

interest groups.

 

Now, " who " is the person responsible for protecting you. "

Read, study, ponder. The truth is there.

 

Doug

" Only the body can cure and heal itself. "

 

 

 

Gettingwell , Frank <califpacific> wrote:

> I am not a fan of Seasilver, nor of their marketing practices, but

I wish the government were as vigilent against false claims of the

curative powers of pharmacuetical drugs and the dangers involved as

they are for the seasilver type compounds. That would be some real

protection for the american public.

>

> I'm sure that almost any average pharmacuetical is much more

dangerous, which usually does not cure and usually causes toxic

damage in the process.

>

> I feel that any danger involved in taking seasilver would be very,

very minor if at all. I wish that I could say the same for all of the

pharmacuticals.

>

> my 2 cents,

> Frank

>

>

> http://consumeraffairs.com/news03/seasilver.html

>

> No Silver Lining for Seasilver

>

> June 19, 2003

> The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) announced coordinated actions against two

companies - both charged with making unsubstantiated medical claims

in promoting the supposed cure-all " Seasilver. "

>

> The agencies' actions against Seasilver USA, Inc. and Americaloe,

Inc. are designed to halt the fraudulent marketing of Seasilver and

to seize the available inventory of the product. It's part of a

continuing crackdown on unscrupulous marketers who prey on consumers

with serious illnesses.

>

> The FTC alleges that the defendants promoted Seasilver as safe and

effective to treat or cure 650 diseases, including AIDS and cancers,

and to cause substantial and permanent weight loss.

>

> " The FTC and the FDA are committed to aggressive action against

fraudulent claims in the dietary supplement market, " said Timothy J.

Muris, Chairman of the FTC. " Like the snake oil salesman of old,

Seasilver claimed to cure 650 different health problems, including

such serious diseases as cancer, AIDS, and diabetes. These claims may

keep consumers from seeking appropriate treatment. They certainly

empty consumers' pockets. "

>