Tuesday
Jan032012
Tue, January 3, 2012 | by Lisa Barger Michon Stahle, TheHCGDrops.com Warned
Though it’s been a few weeks since we saw that rash of official warning letters to websites that were preaching the “benefits” of what they called “homeopathic” hCG it appears that the FDA and FTC aren’t quite done just yet. This morning the FDA released a copy of a warning letter it sent to Michon Stahle on December 21, 2011.
Stahle owns the website thehcgdrops.com and despite either not knowing or not caring that his product is made with human chorionic gonadotropin instead of what he repeatedly calls human chronic gonadotropin, Stahle makes some amazing promises to folks who spend more than $60 on a 1-ounce bottle of his “homeopathic” hCG drops. According to Stahle’s website his drops, along with a 500-calorie-a-day diet and other supplements, can:
But even if he could, his products would still be in violation of FDA regulations because of the medical claims they make. Supplements cannot be hawked for conditions like high cholesterol, for example, because high cholesterol isn’t a medical condition that the average person can diagnose and treat at home.
And, of course, there’s the issue of the VLCD, or very low calorie diet, that the drops must be used with for best results. While such diets are used to help very overweight people shed weight quickly they come with very real risks and should never be used without medical supervision.
The FDA has a number of other problems with the way TheHCGDrops.com is peddling its wares but those are too numerous to list here. You can see the agency’s entire case against the website in the FDA’s official warning letter to Michon Stahle here.
Stahle has 15 working days to answer the FDA’s accusations or present a plan to do so. As of my visit to the site this afternoon I found the claims I looked up still plainly visible.
Source:
FDA. (2011). The hCG Drops, LLC 12/21/11. (WARNING LETTER). Accessible at fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2011/ucm285123.htm.
The HCG Drops. (2010). Multiple pages accessed on January 3, 2012 from www.thehcgdrops.com/.
Stahle owns the website thehcgdrops.com and despite either not knowing or not caring that his product is made with human chorionic gonadotropin instead of what he repeatedly calls human chronic gonadotropin, Stahle makes some amazing promises to folks who spend more than $60 on a 1-ounce bottle of his “homeopathic” hCG drops. According to Stahle’s website his drops, along with a 500-calorie-a-day diet and other supplements, can:
- Reset your hypothalamus gland,
- “Clean out” your body,
- Control your hunger and cravings,
- Minimize constipation and
- Metabolize fat.
But even if he could, his products would still be in violation of FDA regulations because of the medical claims they make. Supplements cannot be hawked for conditions like high cholesterol, for example, because high cholesterol isn’t a medical condition that the average person can diagnose and treat at home.
And, of course, there’s the issue of the VLCD, or very low calorie diet, that the drops must be used with for best results. While such diets are used to help very overweight people shed weight quickly they come with very real risks and should never be used without medical supervision.
The FDA has a number of other problems with the way TheHCGDrops.com is peddling its wares but those are too numerous to list here. You can see the agency’s entire case against the website in the FDA’s official warning letter to Michon Stahle here.
Stahle has 15 working days to answer the FDA’s accusations or present a plan to do so. As of my visit to the site this afternoon I found the claims I looked up still plainly visible.
Source:
FDA. (2011). The hCG Drops, LLC 12/21/11. (WARNING LETTER). Accessible at fda.gov/ICECI/EnforcementActions/WarningLetters/2011/ucm285123.htm.
The HCG Drops. (2010). Multiple pages accessed on January 3, 2012 from www.thehcgdrops.com/.