NAD Refers Advertising From ALCOHOLISM CURE FOUNDATION To FTC

New York, NY – June 19, 2007 – The National Advertising Division (NAD) of the Council of Better Business Bureaus will refer advertising claims published by the Alcoholism Cure Foundation to the Federal Trade Commission for possible law enforcement action.

As part of its routing monitoring program, NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, requested substantiation for certain claims made at the Website of the Alcoholism Cure Foundation. Claims at issue included:

• “Permanent cure” from alcoholism
• Cure Program that permits and “encourages social drinking”
• “Above 97%” success rate”
• “Cures nearly all members”
• “Our programs have many checks and cross checks built in that make doing brain chemistry in your kitchen incredibly safe”;
• Proven Permanent Cure
• Assignment of “your personal doctor …”
• “Doctor Monitoring”
• “Virtually Cost Free”
• Developed & Endorsed by:  Two time Nobel prize winner, Dr. Linus Pauling, thousands of well-recognized research doctors (PhDs), Harvard Medical School.
• Alcohol curing neutraceuticals … “all have been used safely for centuries by billions of people as recognized by the FDA and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.”

The advertiser declined to provide a substantive response to NAD inquiry. As a result, NAD will, pursuant to Section 2.9 of the NAD/NARB Procedures, refer this matter to the Federal Trade Commission for possible law enforcement action.