This week's artwork was donated by Aurelia, a pediatric cancer patient who received treatment at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia . Three of these sites market purported cancer cures. 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. These scans found approximately 800 websites and newsgroups which contained promotions for products or services which the Federal Trade Commission deemed to be questionable in nature. These websites were sent email messages to notify them that online claims require scientific substantiation and to provide false or unsubstantiated claims is in violation of federal law.