Government regulators and health experts are riding herd on a burgeoning marketplace that's pushing products that purportedly prevent, diagnose or cure SARS.
Federal agencies -- including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health -- have been unusually proactive since the crisis began in March. They have solicited and worked closely with private medical manufacturers to test possible diagnostic methods, drug treatments and take the first steps toward a possible vaccine for severe acute respiratory syndrome.
And to keep the research in the public domain, the CDC, the University of Hong Kong and the British Columbia Cancer Agency have all filed patent applications for their genetic sequences of the coronavirus that causes SARS. But U.S. and Canadian regulators are also cracking down on marketers of products that claim to protect against, treat or even cure SARS -- none of which have any scientific basis.
"Scam artists follow the headlines, trying to make a fast buck with products that play off the news," said Howard Beales, director of the Consumer Protection Bureau at the Federal Trade Commission. "But no products have been found effective in preventing, treating or curing SARS."
Investigators from the FTC, FDA and, in Canada, the Ontario Ministry of Consumer and Business Services found 48 Internet sites touting purported SARS products ranging from personal air purifiers and respirators to disinfectants and dietary supplements. The regulators announced yesterday that they have e-mailed warnings to registered owners of the sites, ordering them to stop making false or exaggerated claims. The warnings are to be followed up with letters. They've also told consumers to be skeptical of product claims and instead follow government recommendations for good hygiene and avoiding travel to SARS "hot spots."
"Doctors and health-care experts around the world are working hard to find treatments for SARS," said Dr. Mark McClellan, FDA commissioner. "Until they succeed, there are common sense actions people can take to protect themselves from SARS and other respiratory infections. Bogus products from questionable Web sites do no good, and can actually make matters worse by providing a false sense of protection."
Investigators will be rechecking sites in the following days and weeks, and will act to shut down businesses, seize products and issue fines if bogus SARS claims are still being made.
Rob Dowler, an official with the Ontario consumer protection ministry, said his investigators have been particularly concerned about claims that herbal supplements and homeopathic remedies such as belladonna, oregano oil and colloidal silver are effective against SARS. His province includes Toronto, which has been especially hard-hit by SARS. "The best-known prevention is a good, thorough hand-washing with soap and hot water for at least 20 seconds," Dowler said. "Consumers with SARS symptoms should not try to self-diagnose or opt for questionable home remedies."
McClellan said that his agency has received no applications for marketing approval of products "that provide any specific evidence of effectiveness against SARS," but has met with product developers to lay out standards for approving new tests and treatments and will attempt to quickly review formal claims.
Director Julie Gerberding said Thursday that the CDC has received more than 30 requests from private biomedical companies for either samples of the SARS virus or for virus segments to assist in developing diagnostic tests, drugs or vaccines, and that license agreements have been reached with 17 of them. She said the agency filed a patent application for the coronavirus due to concerns that "depending on who held the patent, that it could potentially lock out competitors from being able to participate in the patent, or products of that patent. And so if there is going to be a patent issued, we would apply for it, so that we could ensure open access as we went forward."
Lee Bromberg is a partner in the Boston law firm of Bromberg & Sunstein, which handles intellectual property claims. He said that while research labs moved with unprecedented speed to file patent claims on SARS, "I think that's because consciousness has been raised about the importance of patent rights, and there was this concern about the virus being monopolized by some unscrupulous commercial player."
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