• On May 26, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued joint warning letters to four companies for the marketing and sale of products deemed fraudulent for the treatment or prevention of COVID-19 (Coronavirus Disease 2019).
  • FDA warned CBD Gaze (CBD products), Alternavita (grapefruit seed extract, colostrum, and cod liver oil products), Musthavemom.com (colloidal silver, vitamins, minerals, herb oils, and a homeopathic drug product), and Careful Cents, LLC (essential oil products), regarding the companies’ promotion, including through referrals as Amazon Associates, of their respective products with claims that they mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19.
  • FDA demanded that the four companies immediately cease to promote and participate in the sale of the products at issue, and requested confirmation in writing, within 48 hours, of the specific steps being taken by the companies to correct the violations. In addition, FDA indicated that the companies will be added to a list published on FDA’s website of companies that have received FDA warning letters for fraudulent products related to COVID-19.
  • There are currently no FDA-approved products for the prevention or treatment of COVID-19, and FDA indicates it is taking urgent measures to protect consumers from products that—without approval or authorization by FDA—claim to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19. In addition, it is unlawful to market or advertise that a product can prevent, treat, or cure human disease, unless adequately substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence (including, when appropriate, well-controlled human clinical studies) supporting the validity of the claims at the time they are made (and there is no such evidence that applies to the products at issue here). Companies that sell products with unapproved claims regarding COVID-19 may be subject to enforcement actions such as seizure, injunction, and restitution.