Also unveiled at the press conference were valuable resources for consumers to use to obtain reliable health information on the Web. As consumers become more assertive about making their own health care decisions, the Internet offers a powerful tool for finding health information. Our survey of the web sites found that too many make deceptive, unproven and fraudulent claims. Miracle cures, once thought to be laughed out of existence, have found a new medium.
Consumers now spend millions on unproven, deceptively marketed products on the Web.
Our law enforcement efforts will continue to focus on deceptive and unproven claims. But limited resources cannot keep up with the proliferation of web sites promoting fraudulent products. Consumers must be provided with reliable resources so that they can use the Internet to find the support and health care information they need. Bernstein said that nearly 22.3 million adults in this country sought health and medical information online as of December 1998, making health and medical content the sixth most commonly accessed type of information on the Web. Twenty-nine percent of all Americans looked to the Internet for medical information and nearly 70 percent of those searching for health care information on the Web, do so before visiting a doctor's office, she said.