CSPI: Bayer Falsely Claimed One A Day Vitamins Prevent Prostate Cancer

(MoneyWatch) 

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Bayer has been threatened with a lawsuit by the Center for Science in the Public Interest over claims that its One A Day vitamin product can somehow prevent prostate cancer. The CSPI claims Bayer's ads are false and deceptive because there is "scant evidence" that the selenium in One A Day can prevent prostate cancer. Radio ads say:

Did you know that there are more new cases of prostate cancer each year than any other cancer? ... Now there is something you can do.

In a letter to Bayer, CSPI warned:

If litigation is necessary, CSPI plans to seek an injunction prohibiting Bayer from representing (either expressly or implicitly) that any of its products can be used in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease.

CSPI also filed a complaint with the FTC. That, in many ways, could be the most significant part of CSPI's threat, because Bayer has been cited by the FTC twice before for making false claims about its One A Day products. In 2007 the company paid a $3.2 million penalty for falsely claiming that vitamins could help weight loss; that penalty came because Bayer had broken a previous agreement not to make false claims about its vitamins.

As BNET readers know, Bayer has an unusual record when it comes to false or misleading advertising. See the links below for further reading.

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• Why the Bayer-Yaz Settlement Will Not Change Drug Advertising Forever
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• Ethics Problems Are Business as Usual at Bayer
• The FDA slams Bayer with two warning letters for allegedly selling unapproved aspirin products.
• FTC fines Bayer $3.2 million for falsely claiming vitamins cause weight loss and for violating prior order not to make false claims.
• Bayer forced to discontinue advertising for All-Day Energy multivitamin which doesn't last all day.
• Bayer cited by NAD for not telling the truth when it said Aleve was the No. 1 medicine among orthopedic surgeons
• Bayer makes unsubstantiated claims about rivals to its Ascencia diabetes blood glucose monitor