US warns 40 Web sites on bogus bioterror products

Lisa Richwine

WASHINGTON: US authorities on Monday warned about 40 Web sites to immediately

stop marketing unproven treatments for anthrax or other products they falsely

claim can protect against potential biowarfare agents.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said the Internet site operators could

face prosecution if they continue promoting the products. The action is part of

a federal effort to crack down on Internet sites that aim to capitalize off

Americans' worries about bioterrorism with bogus products.

The FTC said the warnings, sent via email, went to Web sites that promoted

things such as oregano oil and zinc mineral water as home remedies for anthrax

or other illnesses that could result from a biological attack. "The FTC is

aware of no scientific basis for any of the self-treatment alternatives being

marketed on the Internet," Harold Beales, the FTC's director for consumer

protection, said in a statement.

Operators of Web sites that continue to market products after being warned

may face prosecution, the agency said. Civil fines can range as high as $11,000

per violation. Since the investigation into these sites is ongoing, an FTC

spokesman refused to reveal the names of the Web sites in question.

Other sites also may receive warnings, the agency said. State and federal

officials have identified more than 200 sites marketing bioterrorism-related

products such as gas masks, mail sterilizers, biohazard test kits, homeopathic

remedies, and dietary supplements.

Americans' anxiety about anthrax grew after anthrax-tainted letters were sent

through the US mail in October, just weeks after the Sept. 11 hijacking attacks

that killed about 4,500 people. Four people died in October after inhaling

anthrax spores. The only known effective treatments for biological agents such

as anthrax or smallpox, also feared as a potential weapon, are prescription

drugs or vaccines. Industry groups representing dietary supplement makers have

issued statements saying that there is no scientific evidence that supplements

can treat anthrax.

The Food and Drug Administration also warned more than a dozen foreign-based

Internet pharmacies that were selling unapproved forms of Bayer AG's

anthrax-fighting antibiotic Cipro.

(C)Reuters Limited.