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Biotech / Medical : Anthrax test from VLPI -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: peter michaelson who wrote (135)	2/27/2002 10:44:34 PM
From: StockDung	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 142

Vital Living Settles FTC Charges Over Anthrax Tests (Update1) By Tamra Santana Washington, Feb. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Vital Living Products Inc. settled false advertising charges the U.S. Federal Trade Commission brought against the company for marketing an anthrax test kit. The operator of the rawhealth.net Web site also settled charges it deceptively claimed a dietary supplement it sold cures or treats 650 diseases, including anthrax, the FTC said. ``These companies used inaccurate and unfounded claims to sell peace of mind,'' said said J. Howard Beales, director of the agency's Bureau of Consumer Protection. ``They tried to cash in on consumer anxiety about bioterrorism.'' The settlements are the latest development in a crackdown the FTC, Food and Drug Administration and 30 state attorneys general initiated in November to stop the marketing of fraudulent bioterrorism products stemming from last year's terrorist and anthrax attacks. The agreement bars Vital Products from selling its ``PurTest Anthrax Test'' or any other product claiming to detect the presence of anthrax bacteria or spores without scientific proof that it works. Beaverton, Oregon-based Rawhealth.net operator Kris Pletschke agreed to stop making false claims that its colloidal silver product can treat or cure hundreds of diseases. Wrongdoing Not Admitted Neither business admitted wrongdoing in the settlements, which require court approval. Vital Living, which lost money every year since it was founded in 1990, said its net worth was negative $2.4 million on Sept. 30. The company's shares, which rose 61 percent after the company claimed its kits were certified to test for anthrax, rose 1 cent to 16 cents. The FTC said it discovered companies marketing bogus bioterrorism-related products in a search of the Internet. After sending 121 warning letters, the FTC said, 62 percent of the recipients stopped making the suspicious claims. Vital Living advertised its anthrax do-it-yourself test kit as ``certified'' by an independent laboratory. The lab, Sani-Pure Laboratories, told Bloomberg News in November that it hadn't certified the test kits or tested them with anthrax. The Matthews, North Carolina-based company's shares rose 61 percent after announcing its anthrax test was certified. The company reported in a December regulatory filing that the Securities and Exchange Commission staff recommended that the agency file civil securities fraud charges against Vital Living and Chief Executive Officer Donald Podrebarac. The company was not immediately available to comment on the FTC settlement. ``Consumers ought to realize, if it sounds like snake oil, it may very well be snake oil and that's not something you want to buy,'' Beales said.