Patient with an insulin pump.
While watching NY1’s coverage of the Halloween Parade last Saturday night, I was subjected to commercials for a new (to me) product purporting to help diabetics “maintain healthy blood glucose levels.” Glymetrol does not help people with diabetes control their glucose (or blood sugar) levels through clinically or scientifically tested means, such as regulating diet or insulin replacement, or even through any means that has been assessed or approved by the FDA. No, Glymetrol* is a “safe and effective” proprietary blend of “natural” extracts and vitamins that:
Maintains Healthy Insulin Sensitivity
Maintains Healthy Glucose Concentration
Maintains Healthy Glucose Metabolism
I did not find these ads reprehensible for the normal reasons:
- That the ads for this naturopathic product use verbiage to suggest a scientific basis for their unverified claims.
- That while some of the key ingredients may have been studied with regard to blood sugar regulation, they have never been tested in the dosage and combination created by this product (I might explore these claims more thoroughly in another post).
- That despite having nothing to do with glucose, the product uses a similar sounding name to imply reputability.
- That this untried, untested product is being marketed to people with a serious and life-threatening disease.
No, those are all par for the course.
What got me steamed up, was that after half-listening to the commercial for the first time, I was left with the impression that they were encouraging people with diabetes to sign up for a clinical trial to test this product’s efficacy. With only half an ear I had originally heard statements such as “your area has been selected to try it,” and “looking for 200 callers to participate,” and “clinical studies for the key ingredients have shown…” I do not have any experience in advertising, but I feel that this commercial created the illusion of a legitimate clinical trial to lure in buyers. The ad campaign’s downfall was that I watched the station long enough for the ad to run again, and this time I paid attention. The ad never put the words “clinical” and “trial” together, instead referring to “clinical studies” and “market trial,” but I somehow filled in those blanks.
After a quick search online, I found that I was not the only person to come away from the ads with this misinterpretation. I am sure that this company has made gobs of money from this ad campaign. The argument against “Big Pharma” that I find most laughable is the suggestion that they are only out to get your money and they couldn’t give a hoot about your disease/illness/quality of life, while on the flip side the companies producing “natural” remedies do not care about their bottom-line, and therefore are only concerned about you, the patient. This ad hominem attack is ridiculous in light of scams like this, perpetrated by the advertisers promoting products like Glymetrol. Um, who is out to get your money?
*I have not provided a link to the official website promoting Glymetrol. I would hate to give them any traffic.
