Bayer threatened with lawsuit over vitamin claims
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Bayer HealthCare may get slapped with a lawsuit if it continues to run advertisements for its One-A-Day vitamins that claim the product reduces men’s risk of prostate cancer.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington-based health advocacy group, is threatening to sue Bayer for “misleading men” about the benefits of its product.
The group said in a statement today that Bayer’s radio and TV ads falsely claim that selenium, an ingredient of One-A-Day Men’s Health Formula and 50+ Advantage, helps prevent prostate cancer.
It does not, said David Schardt, the group’s senior nutritionist.
“Bayer is exploiting men’s fear of prostate cancer just to sell more pills,” he said. “The largest prostate cancer prevention trial has found that selenium is no more effective than a placebo. Bayer is ripping people off when it suggests otherwise in these dishonest ads.”
To back its claim, the group cites a seven-year, $118-million study by the National Institutes of Health, which failed to find any evidence that selenium prevents prostate cancer in men. The study involved 35,000 U.S. and Canadian men.
Bayer spokeswoman Trisch McKernan told the Associated Press that the company stands “behind all claims made in support of our products.” She also said that the claims in the advertisements were approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
In addition to the lawsuit threat, the Center for Science sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission, requesting the FTC to take a closer look.
Calls to Bayer and the FTC were not immediately returned Thursday.
-- W.J. Hennigan
