Beware the Stuff of Carnival Sideshows

At a recent professional meeting, our homebound flight was delayed because of weather and mechanical issues. My colleagues and I graciously accepted this unanticipated inconvenience to catch up on some professional and personal responsibilities on our tablets and phones. We were sitting in the boarding gate while the overhead TV started a commercial advertising a slick new treatment for knee pain.

Unfortunately for the advertiser, my little band of medical professionals watched this commercial in horror. The company was promoting a “clinically tested” program to relieve knee pain without surgery. They promised a solution for degenerative arthritis. Someone in a white coat, supposed to be a medical doctor, touted the benefits of these supplements.

And a professionally dressed spokesperson with no obvious credentials but a slick on-screen presence showed charts and graphs and a table of fruits and vegetables. She invited viewers to call a toll-free number for a free sample.

You Can't Fool Me (Oh, Yes, We Can)

Our group was transfixed. On the infomercial, we watched patients sprinting up stadium steps, bouncing soccer balls, and defying pain with this miracle cure.

Of course, I can understand how this commercial would be enticing to someone suffering from chronic knee pain. To someone who has trouble climbing a set of stairs or has life-limiting disability from knee pain. To someone who would do anything to turn back the hands of time and tide and have a pain-free life.

The fact of the matter is that my colleagues and I agreed that there is no free lunch for this type of medical concern. Joint deterioration can be addressed but not cured with weight reduction, physical therapy and strength conditioning, and appropriate use of anti-inflammatories under the direction of a licensed healthcare professional. Even localized injections can provide some relief, but nothing on this commercial would have helped our patients.

No, our patients are not sprinting up stadium steps. But with appropriate medical intervention, they can live relatively better.

Don’t Be Fooled

Late-night TV slots must be less expensive for these huckster fruit and vegetable substitutes and other so-called miracle cures. Don’t be fooled. Don’t be taken in.

You don’t know what is in these supplements (and the FDA does not regulate them). You don’t know if those ingredients may conflict with what you are already taking for other medical conditions. You don’t know unless you discuss these products with your providers—in person or via messaging on your patient portal.

I had to laugh because our little group of physicians in that boarding gate—and I will speak for them—are renowned in their fields, seasoned medical professionals. We knew the TV commercial was touting bogus claims and promises the product could not keep. We knew there were no clinical trials (because we conduct trials and read the literature). But we could do nothing about the slick message.

You can.

Buyer beware. Talk with your physician if you feel you need to try something new you see on social media or TV.

Bottom line: Once upon a time promoters of shadowy, unproven treatments would operate under a circus tent at some carnival and sell snake oil. Today, through the ease of social media and TV, these techno-driven messages are reaching the masses (as intended) with a new form of snake oil and spin and a sophisticated slant. Don’t believe them.

We need to educate ourselves as the potential risks and complications of treatments that have not withstood the scrutiny of properly conducted clinical trials flood the airwaves. Be skeptical. Be aware. Why? As I’ve said, no one has a greater stake in your health and well-being than you.

I discuss the pros and cons (literally) of products in my book How NOT to Be My Patient. I wish you well.

Buy a ticket and come inside, says the carnival barker (photo from Shutterstock).