There are many issues related to consumer health that are important to our health and well-being. Every day individuals make decisions that impact their health and wellness, whether it be purchasing goods and services or accessing health care.

The behaviors we choose and the habits we form have a direct impact on our home life, our relationships and our contributions to society.  We must be aware of the influences on these decisions and what we need to do to advocate for ourselves and our health and wellness.

Marketing and Advertising Influence on Consumer Behavior

The influence of marketing and advertising is related to our Consumer Health. Advertisers persuade people to buy products and services by emphasizing them as a status symbol and playing on inner fears and insecurities. Being aware of this fact is a foundational step in making healthy decisions regarding our health and what to purchase and what not to purchase. Making children aware of these influences from an early age will help them to make more educated decisions.

6 Tip-offs to Rip-offs: Don’t Fall for Health Fraud Scams

Learn to recognize the signs of health fraud.

Bogus product! Danger! Health fraud alert!

You’ll never see these warnings on health products, but that’s what you ought to be thinking when you see claims like “miracle cure,” “revolutionary scientific breakthrough,” or “alternative to drugs or surgery.”

Health fraud scams have been around for hundreds of years. The snake oil salesmen of old have morphed into the deceptive, high-tech marketers of today. They prey on people’s desires for easy solutions to difficult health problems—from losing weight to curing serious diseases like cancer.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a health product is fraudulent if it is deceptively promoted as being effective against a disease or health condition but has not been scientifically proven safe and effective for that purpose.

Scammers promote their products through newspapers, magazines, TV infomercials and cyberspace. You can find health fraud scams in retail stores and on countless websites, in popup ads and spam, and on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Not Worth the Risk

Health fraud scams can do more than waste your money. They can cause serious injury or even death, says Gary Coody, R.Ph., FDA’s national health fraud coordinator. “Using unproven treatments can delay getting a potentially life-saving diagnosis and medication that actually works. Also, fraudulent products sometimes contain hidden drug ingredients that can be harmful when unknowingly taken by consumers.”

Coody says fraudulent products often make claims related to:

• weight loss
• sexual performance
• memory loss
• serious diseases such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and Alzheimer’s.

A Pervasive Problem

Fraudulent products not only won’t work—they could cause serious injury. In the past few years, FDA laboratories have found more than 100 weight-loss products, illegally marketed as dietary supplements, that contained sibutramine, the active ingredient in the prescription weight-loss drug Meridia. In 2010, Meridia was withdrawn from the U.S. market after studies showed that it was associated with an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

Fraudulent products marketed as drugs or dietary supplements are not the only health scams on the market. FDA found a fraudulent and expensive light therapy device with cure-all claims to treat fungal meningitis, Alzheimer’s, skin cancer, concussions and many other unrelated diseases. Generally, making health claims about a medical device without FDA clearance or approval of the device is illegal.

“Health fraud is a pervasive problem,” says Coody, “especially when scammers sell online. It’s difficult to track down the responsible parties. When we do find them and tell them their products are illegal, some will shut down their website. Unfortunately, however, these same products may reappear later on a different website, and sometimes may reappear with a different name.”

Tip-Offs

FDA offers some tip-offs to help you identify rip-offs.

• One product does it all. Be suspicious of products that claim to cure a wide range of diseases. A New York firm claimed its products marketed as dietary supplements could treat or cure senile dementia, brain atrophy, atherosclerosis, kidney dysfunction, gangrene, depression, osteoarthritis, dysuria, and lung, cervical and prostate cancer. In October 2012, at FDA’s request, U.S. marshals seized these products.
• Personal testimonials. Success stories, such as, “It cured my diabetes” or “My tumors are gone,” are easy to make up and are not a substitute for scientific evidence.
• Quick fixes. Few diseases or conditions can be treated quickly, even with legitimate products. Beware of language such as, “Lose 30 pounds in 30 days” or “eliminates skin cancer in days.”
• “All natural.” Some plants found in nature (such as poisonous mushrooms) can kill when consumed. Moreover, FDA has found numerous products promoted as “all natural” but that contain hidden and dangerously high doses of prescription drug ingredients or even untested active artificial ingredients.
• “Miracle cure.” Alarms should go off when you see this claim or others like it such as, “new discovery,” “scientific breakthrough” or “secret ingredient.” If a real cure for a serious disease were discovered, it would be widely reported through the media and prescribed by health professionals—not buried in print ads, TV infomercials or on Internet sites.
• Conspiracy theories. Claims like “The pharmaceutical industry and the government are working together to hide information about a miracle cure” are always untrue and unfounded. These statements are used to distract consumers from the obvious, common-sense questions about the so-called miracle cure.

Even with these tips, fraudulent health products are not always easy to spot. If you’re tempted to buy an unproven product or one with questionable claims, check with your doctor or other health care professional first.

Steps to Addressing an Issue with a Consumer Product or Service

Part of being a healthy consumer is being an advocate for yourself.  If you have problems with an item or service you purchased, it is best to contact the company. Use these steps to get started:

1. Gather supporting documents, such as sales receipts, warranties, contracts, and work orders from the purchase. Also, gather any email messages or logs of any contact you’ve had with the seller about the purchase if you have any.
2. Contact the seller You may be able to solve the problem by contacting a salesperson or customer service representative. Use assertive communication skills, as being aggressive is not likely to be effective. You can try a phone call first, but sending correspondence that can be referenced later can be beneficial as well. If this doesn’t work, contact a supervisor or manager. If this still fails, try going higher up to the national headquarters. To find the company’s customer service contact information, look for “contact us”, “customer service”, “about us”, “terms and conditions” or “privacy statement” on the company’s website. Use USA.gov’s sample complaint letter if desired.
3. Contact third parties, if the seller fails to fix your problem. File a complaint with your local consumer protection offices or the state regulatory agency or licensing board that has jurisdiction over the seller. Notify the Better Business Bureau (BBB) in your area about your problem. The BBB tries to resolve your complaints against companies. Some federal agencies accept complaints about companies.  Your State Attorney General’s office can be a very effective contact. While these agencies may not resolve your problem, your complaint helps them investigate fraud. If the purchase was made online across international borders, you may also file a complaint with econsumer.gov.
4. Seek legal help. If none of these options work, you may seek to resolve your problem through the legal system or through an alternative dispute program, such as arbitration, conciliation, or mediation.

Some problems with sellers are the result of frauds and scams. If you believe that you have been the victim of a fraud, file a complaint to the correct government agency.

Consumer Happiness

In our society, we are constantly bombarded with advertising messages attempting to make us feel that more “things” will make us happy. Retail therapy (spending money to feel good or for a “high”) is an activity that many people engage in.  We also receive messages through the media that say, “You can afford it”, no matter what.   These messages impact children as well, who are even more vulnerable than adults to marketing influence.

The birth of credit cards is a significant contributor to the problems we currently face. Prior to credit cards, individuals had to save their money in order to make a purchase.  Therefore, individuals had to experience delayed gratification, versus the ability to have instant gratification with today’s credit cards.

Unfortunately, a number of people purchase items to deal with feeling down or depressed. “Retail therapy” isn’t the best strategy.  As with using a substance to feel good, the good feeling is only temporary, your problems don’t go away, and there can actually be added problems as a result of using this type of coping.  We can easily put ourselves into debt trying to satisfy the desire to feel good by purchasing material goods or services that we think will make us happy.

Does more money always mean more happiness?    It’s easy to think that more money would mean more happiness, but the answer is NO, it does not always mean more happiness! According to research, happiness is related to income up to a certain point.  For example, for people having trouble paying for basic necessities such as food and shelter, most would report more happiness or feelings of emotional well-being upon being able to easily pay for those things. Once individuals have enough money to pay for the basics, then happiness levels off. Some research finds that after a certain point, happiness actually decreases as financial wealth increases.13  Think about it. Are wealthy people the happiest people you know? Sometimes they are very unhappy! You may have seen documentaries about people who won the lottery and were very unhappy following that event.  Conversely, there are people living in the poorest of conditions who report extreme happiness.14 The bottom line is that happiness is primarily internally generated.  Much of it has to do with our perceptions of our situation.  Is your glass half full or half empty?

The Importance of Consumer Spending Decisions

How we choose to spend our money as consumers is extremely important and will have great influence on our financial health and wellness.  There are many examples of people without extraordinary incomes that were able to gain good financial stability because of the choices they made, while at the same time we have seen extraordinary incomes disappear due to poor consumer choices.   For example, someone who makes an average salary may be very smart with their money.  They avoid spending based on instant gratification, they avoid getting into debt and pay off their credit card bills each month.  They save a portion of each paycheck.  There have been individuals who have become millionaires on ordinary incomes.  On the other hand, you could have someone making half a million dollars per year who is up to their eyeballs in debt.

Smart consumers also are aware of the distinction between “needs vs wants” or “luxuries vs necessities”.

Which of the following would you say are “wants” and which are “needs”?

• Cable/Satellite TV
• Smart phone
• Name brand clothing
• Rent/Mortgage
• Electricity

What messages are sent to children when we treat things as if they are needs versus wants? How did you define “need”?  If you define need as something necessary for survival (staying alive), then none of them are needs.  There are people in many parts of the world who are living without electricity.  In the US, look at the Amish.  They live without electricity.  So it’s not a need to physically survive, but you may feel it is a need to be able to function and be a productive member of society.

Usually people will argue that items are needs. Shelter is certainly something that could be considered a need. Although some will agree that cable/satellite TV is not a need and that LOTS of money could be saved by not subscribing. Even if the monthly charge was only $60 per month, that’s $720 per year that could be in your pocket. Are you spending more or less?  Are there better uses of your $720 or whatever amount you are paying?

Discussion of cell phones usually brings quite a debate.  We lived for hundreds of years without them, yet many defend that they are needed for various reasons including emergencies. Those who have not lived in a world without cell phones have a hard time picturing life without them.  When things are perceived as “needs”, they can add a significant expense. How much could you save in a year’s time by making some smart consumer decisions?

Out of Money – Do you ever hear people complain about not having enough money when they’ve been spending on items that are not necessity items?  Is it possible that they are choosing wants or luxuries over necessities? Being aware and making educated decisions can make a big difference.

Helping Children Become Good Consumers

Some basic concepts to remember:

1. Happiness is internally generated.
2. Advertisers are very influential and want your money.
3. Delaying gratification can help you make smart consumer decisions.
4. Many people miss out when they fail to realize that the best things in life are not things you can buy.

Critical Consumer Health Concepts

There is certainly much more we can learn about consumer health.  However, there are some core concepts that can be helpful when guiding children.

• Encourage educated decision making that balances wellness and enjoyment with planning for the future.
• Primary Prevention Saves Money – Remind youth that they will save money in many ways by making healthy, educated decisions. Our healthy decisions contribute to prevention of disease and death and therefore we save money.
• Contributors and Advocates – Guiding children to be advocates and contributors versus simply consumers in our society can be part of overall health and wellness as well. Individuals can feel great meaning from doing these things and contribute to forward progress in our society.