Fake Flu-Fighting Products
After the Obama Administration declared the breakout of H1N1 flu a national emergency on Oct. 24, officials took many steps to keep people from overreacting. Among them: identifying 140 dubious products sold on the Internet that claimed to prevent or treat the illness. These included shampoos, healing gels, liquids and sprays like Ionic Silver, an immune-system supplement. The FDA ordered the website swineflugone.com to stop claiming that Ionic Silver can "Stop Swine Flu in Its Tracks." Even more troubling was the availability online of what turned out to be counterfeit Tamiflu that contained powdered talc, generic Tylenol and only occasionally some of the active ingredient in the drug that has been approved by the FDA for treating H1N1.