Announce Ebola cure and go to jail

The very act of suggesting or
announcing a potential cure for
the dreaded Ebola Virus
Disease, EVD, has become
riskier than envisaged as
claimants of such unverified
and “unorthodox” cures now
stand the risk of going to
prison if threats by the
American Food and Drug
Administration, FDA, are
anything to go by.
EVD, a deadly and currently
incurable disorder that has
killed over 3,000 persons in
West Africa since the
beginning of the year, is
currently in the global spotlight
as local and foreign scientists
and researchers as well as top
pharmaceutical companies and
organisations join the race to
find a lasting cure to the
pestilence.
But for the World Health
Organisation, WHO, Centres
for Diseases Control, CDC and
other global health bodies
there is currently remains no
cure for EVD.
From bitter kola to salt water
solution and Ewedu among
others, the practice of
unsupported, uncorroborated
and potentially fraudulent
claims of unverified and
unscientific Ebola cures have
made the rounds since the
outbreak of the EVD in West
Africa and Nigeria in particular.
Regulatory agencies had since
gone tough on what is
described as moves to prevent
people from being led astray
and causing more panic in the
country.
Just last week, the American
Food and Drug Administration,
FDA, and the Federal Trade
Commission, FTC, threatened
three companies – the Natural
Solutions Foundation, the
Young Living Company, and
doTerra Company – with
criminal charges for making
Ebola treatment claims while
marketing their products.
In a copy of the strongly-
worded warning letter written
by the Agency over the
purported fraudulent health
claims regarding Ebola
treatments, the FDA
reprimanded the companies
over claims that their products
could treat or prevent Ebola.
The latest development is
coming on the heels of the
threat by the National Agency
for Food and Drug
Administration of Nigeria,
NAFDAC, to prosecute a
Nigerian Professor of
Ophthalmology at the Lagos
University Teaching Hospital,
LUTH, for unverified cure claim
of the EVD, using Ewedu, a
native vegetable.
Penultimate week, Director –
General of the Agency, Dr.
Paul Orhii, who described the
development as a national
embarrassment, had vowed
that the Ewedu cure claimant
would face the full wrath of the
law to serve as a deterrent
warning to others with
penchant to perpetuate such
bogus claims that had
tendency to mislead or create
panic within the populace.
Essentially, claims of treatment
or cures for diseases are not
certifiable without
incontrovertible evidence. But
the FDA which threatened
possible criminal prosecutions
including jail, in the event of
the failure to immediately
withdraw such claims from the
public domain, also came
under criticism for its hard
stance.
For instance, arguments that
the FDA and other regulators
failed to heed the WHO
recommendation encouraging
use of experimental and
unproven pharmaceutical
drugs including herbs or
natural remedy continue to
make the rounds.
In the wake of the EVD
outbreak in Lagos last July, the
Federal government set up a
Treatment Research Group
comprising top scientists and
researchers including Prof.
Maurice Iwu, whose
researches on bitter kola as a
potential cure for the Ebola
disease have generated
tremendous interest.
Prior to this, a Scientific
Committee on Verification of
Herbal Cure Claims set up last
year by the Federal
government has been looking
into the potential discovery of
a local herbal cure for series of
ailments in the country.
No verifiable cure for the
disease has ever been
announced but strong
argument has been put
forward for herbal medicine
which many say may ultimately
hold the key to a universally
acceptable cure. There are no
documented reports of
scientific tests with Ebola
viruses using hers or other
natural products.
The FDA had consistently
urged consumers to be aware
of unverified products sold
particularly online claiming to
prevent or treat the Ebola
virus. Since the outbreak of the
Ebola virus in West Africa,
numerous consumer
complaints about a variety of
products claiming to either
prevent the Ebola virus or treat
the infection have inundated
the Administration.
Although there are
experimental Ebola vaccines
and treatments under
development, these
investigational products are in
the early stages of product
development, have not yet
been fully tested for safety or
effectiveness. None of them
are FDA approved and the
supply is very limited.
There are no approved
vaccines, drugs, or
investigational products
specifically for Ebola available
for purchase on the Internet.
By law, dietary supplements
cannot claim to prevent or
cure disease.
According to the FDA,
individuals promoting
unapproved and fraudulent
products must take immediate
action to correct or remove
these claims or face potential
FDA action.