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FDA issues a consumer alert on fraudulent COVID-19 cures

Posted at 6:24 PM, Mar 25, 2020
and last updated 2020-03-25 21:24:36-04

The Food and Drug Administration said on Wednesday that some people and companies are trying to profit from this pandemic by selling unproven and illegally marketed products that make false claims, such as being effective against the coronavirus.

The FDA says that products that claim to cure, treat, or prevent COVID-19 haven't been evaluated by the FDA for safety and effectiveness, and calls said products "dangerous."

Wednesday's announcement comes two weeks after the FDA previously announced it sent letters to a number of companies that sell products that allegedly claim to treat or prevent coronavirus.

Simply put, if there are any products that claim to treat or cure coronavirus, the FDA says not to buy it.

"The FDA is working with medical product developers to rapidly advance the development and availability of vaccines and treatments for COVID-19. Although there are investigational COVID-19 vaccines and treatments being studied in clinical trials, these products are in the early stages of development. They haven't yet been fully tested for safety or effectiveness, or received FDA approval," the FDA said on Wednesday,' the FDA said.

The FDA is requesting the public to report suspected fraud to the FDA's Health Fraud Program or the Office of Criminal Investigations .