BBB National Programs Archive
Lifeone.org Takes Part In ERSP Forum
New York, NY – May 15, 2007 – LifeOne.org, marketer of the LifeOne Cancer Treatment Formula (LifeOne), has voluntarily discontinued certain performance and comparative claims, following an inquiry by the Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP). The marketer has agreed to modify the remaining establishment claim.
The marketer’s advertising came to the attention of ERSP through ERSP’s ongoing monitoring program. ERSP, the electronic direct-response industry’s self-regulatory forum, is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) with policy oversight by the National Advertising Review Council (NARC).
Claims at issue in the ERSP inquiry included:
- “The advanced alternative cancer treatment proven on all cancers.” “Cancer is kept in check, or outright beaten by the body’s immune system.” “The LifeOne formula has proven effective on all cancer types.”
- “Most patients will respond within a week, showing decreased pain, increased
- energy, and a general feeling of increased vigor.”
- “The new LifeOne formula is the best cancer deterrent and immune system enhancer available today.”
- “LifeOne formula supercharges the immune system and allows our body to fight viral illness better than any other product known.”
At the outset of the inquiry, the marketer advised ERSP that it permanently discontinued the performance and comparative claims at issue and was in the process of modifying the remaining establishment claim, which states: “The advanced alternative cancer treatment proven on all cancers.” The claim was initially used in a sponsored link of an Internet search.
ERSP recommended that future advertising for the product include detailed information about the parameters of a Venezuelan study on which the marketer relies. That information should include facts that would be material to a consumer’s understanding of the limitations of the supporting evidence.
ERSP pointed out that health claims such as those contained in these ads are carefully scrutinized by organizations that include the Federal Trade Commission and the National Association of Attorneys General and that these regulatory authorities generally require two independent clinical studies to support establishment claims, particularly claims pertaining to the health and safety of consumers.
Editor’s Note: The marketer failed to provide an acceptable Marketer’s Statement to ERSP. However, ERSP confirmed that LifeOne has discontinued all but one of the claims that were the subject of the self-regulatory inquiry. Moreover, the marketer has indicated in writing that it is in the process of modifying and/or removing the remaining claim at issue. ERSP will continue to monitor the Website to assure that marketer fulfills its commitment to modify or discontinue this claim.