Undercover agents from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), posing as elderly customers, recently exposed a host of deceptive and even dangerous marketing practices by sellers of herbs and other supplements. According to a GAO report, The most egregious practices included suspect marketing claims that a dietary supplement prevented or cured extremely serious diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not approve dietary supplements before they go on the market, unlike prescription drugs. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates the marketing of supplements, which are forbidden from claiming to treat medical conditions. Investigators, in the guise of elderly buyers in stores or on the phone, also were given dangerously erroneous information about interactions between supplements and medications, such as those that raise the risk of internal bleeding. Others were advised they could drop their prescription drugs and take herbal remedies instead.
