[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA), members of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, issued the following statement after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) posted warning letters to eleven marketers and distributors of dietary supplements advertised as treatments for substance use disorder or withdrawal symptoms associated with opioids. In December, the Senators called on FDA and FTC to immediately act to stop fraudulent marketing claims by dietary supplement companies seeking to exploit the epidemic of opioid misuse and addiction. Blumenthal and Markey specifically highlighted these companies’ records of employing false and misleading marketing claims about non-FDA approved supplements, many of which were used as grounds for the warning issued by FDA and FTC today.
“We are strongly encouraged that the FDA and FTC heeded our call to hold accountable malicious actors that target and exploit those seeking relief from opioid addiction,” said the Senators. “The millions of Americans devastated by the opioid epidemic deserve the toughest possible protections from predatory scammers falsely marketing unproven – even dangerous – opioid cessation products. We welcome the initial warning issued by FDA and FTC to eleven such companies, and will continue our vigilant oversight of follow up efforts by both agencies.”
The FDA and FTC issued joint warning letters to eleven companies for their products, and sent four additional warning letters to other marketers of opioid cessation products. The companies primarily use online platforms to make unproven claims about their products' ability to cure, treat, or prevent a disease, including:
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