The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations sent warning letters to seven companies allegedly selling products that claim to treat and prevent coronavirus.
According to a statement by both the FTC and FDA, the agencies sent letters to Vital Silver, Quinessence Aromatheraphy Ltd., N-ergetics, GuruNanda, LLC, Vivify Holistic Clinic, Herbal Amy LLC, and The Jim Baker Show.
The companies allegedly advertise products such as teas and essential oils that claim to treat or prevent coronavirus.
“There already is a high level of anxiety over the potential spread of coronavirus,” said FTC Chairman Joe Simons in a statement. “What we don’t need in this situation are companies preying on consumers by promoting products with fraudulent prevention and treatment claims. These warning letters are just the first step. We’re prepared to take enforcement actions against companies that continue to market this type of scam.”
The FDA says the promotion of unauthorized coronavirus products are a threat to public health.
In the letters, the FTC advises the companies to immediately stop all advertising of products that claim to treat the virus. If not, the FTC may go to court and require money to be refunded to customers, according to the statement.
The FTC and FDA say they will continue to look at social media and websites to be sure all claims have stopped and will not continue through a different name or company.
