Firm Rapped Over West Nile Claim
Federal regulators on Wednesday said they have charged Lentek International Inc. with false advertising for a claim that its battery-powered mosquito repellent protects against the West Nile Virus.
CBS News Correspondent Lee Cowan reports that it was just too much for the Federal Trade Commission, which today filed a formal complaint charging the company with using "unfair or deceptive acts or practices" and making "false advertisements."
In its complaint, the FTC said the company and its principals falsely claimed that their MosquitoContro products effectively repel the insects and are an effective alternative to pesticides in the prevention of mosquito-borne West Nile Virus.
"The respondents have claimed that their battery-operated MosquitoContro products, designed to be worn or placed near the body, create sounds that mimic male mosquitoes and dragonflies, thereby supposedly frightening away the biting female mosquitoes," the FTC said in a statement.
Lentek, however, says it never promised its product would prevent or eliminate the West Nile Virus -- and has taken it off its website.
Consumers advocates warn that could be one of several questionable remedies.
Frank Torres of the Consumers Union says, "These people always come out of the woodwork to try to prey on the public's worst fears and rob them blind before somebody catches them."
Lentek International manufactures and distributes a variety of items such as pest-control devices, housewares, personal care products and flashlights.
According to the Centers for Disease Control ultrasonic products are not effective at preventing mosquito bites, the statement added. The company could face a hearing before an administrative law judge during which a cease and desist order could be entered.
West Nile virus activity has been reported in 41 states and the District of Columbia. As of August 28, there have been 480 human cases of West Nile virus, with 24 deaths, reported in 10 states. Eight deaths from West Nile have been reported in Louisiana, four in Illinois, three in Mississippi, two each in Georgia and Ohio, and one each in Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, New York, and Texas.
So far this year, more human cases of West Nile have been confirmed in the country's worst out break since the virus first appeared here in 1999. Seven people died in New York that year, and the virus has since spread throughout the East and Midwest.
Officials in Louisiana, the hardest hit state with 171 cases and eight deaths this year, expressed hope Friday that new cases there were tapering off. The 24 new human cases it reported last week is less than half the increase of the week before.
Most people bitten by an infected mosquito never get sick, and most of the rest see only flu-like symptoms. A small percentage of people contract encephalitis, a potentially fatal infection of the brain.
The virus is most dangerous for children, the elderly and people with weak immune systems.
In other West Nile news: