"It's been three months. That HCG should kick in right about now."
I ran across a patient in the emergency department a couple months ago who coincidentally happened to be taking over-the-counter HCG oral drops for help with weight loss. She didn’t ask my opinion, so I didn’t give it.
Now the FDA has sent a stern warning letter to seven HCG diet marketers to cease and desist. I started seeing ads for homeopathic oral HCG at least a year ago. And the FDA is just now getting around to the letters?
The Science-Based Medicine blog can teach you about homeopathy.
Here’s a snippet from the first FDA link above:
Miller explains that HCG was first promoted for weight loss in the 1950s. “It faded in the 1970s, especially when it became apparent that there was a lack of evidence to support the use of HCG for weight loss,” she says.
The diet has become popular again and FDA and FTC are taking action on illegal HCG products. “You cannot sell products claiming to contain HCG as an OTC drug product. It’s illegal,” says Brad Pace, team leader and regulatory counsel at FDA’s Health Fraud and Consumer Outreach Branch. “If these companies don’t heed our warnings, they could face enforcement actions, legal penalties or criminal prosecution.”
You think these HCG marketers didn’t know from the git-go that what they were doing was illegal?
I’d have thought the FDA already had enough poop to start enforcement actions.
But what do I know?
Diabetic Mediterranean Diet 