Snake Oil Placebos

Yet another one of those weight loss pill commercials just played. These things piss me off. They take a "doctor" (at least one of them is a Ph.D., not an M.D.), parade him around like he's some kind of weight loss authority, throw some name like "The Obesity Institute" behind the "research" and hock their "suplements."

Yeah, that's how they get away with making these kind of claims. These pills are considered suplements, not phameceuticals, and are therefore only loosely regulated by the FDA, if at all. It's the same thing with the sex pills and several other suplements but the diet pills are the worst.

"When is a diet pill worth $150 dollars a bottle?" When people are stupid enough to pay that much for it.

"It is so powerful, it's not for the casual dieter." Translation: If we use this phrase, we can charge a buttload of money for a 30-day supply.

"Lose weight without diet and exercise." BULLSHIT! Can't be done. You know what, real medical science tried that AND PEOPLE DIED!!! That's why you can't buy phentermine and that other pill in the U.S. anymore. It's just not safe.

Here's the problem. They don't make any medical claims about the effectiveness of the supplement and so are not doing anything illegal. The FDA and the FTC can't touch them.

I really wish someone would get these snake oil salesmen off the air.

Oh, yeah, I almost forgot. One of these is names Propolene which reminds me of propolene glycol, the active ingredient in antifreeze, which is toxic. Yeah, I want to take that internally.