U.S. regulators have come across some serious quackery when it comes to Ebola treatments: Take, for instance, the chocolate bar filled with silver nanoparticles touted to treat the deadly virus, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said at this week’s Advamed conference in Chicago. She’s also seen a marijuana constituent that’s “guaranteed to cure Ebola” – products that keep regulators on their toes to prevent a dissemination of fraud.
“Note to audience: Do not buy,” Hamburg said. But she added that whenever there’s a serious public health and medical challenge like this, there’s also fraud.
“We’ve seen some amazing products being sold that sometimes capture the attention and interest of leaders because they’re alleged to hold such promise,” Hamburg said.
But the fact of the matter is that the Nigerian top health official introduced an experimental product, called Nano Silver, was being tested in a handful of infected Nigerians, the Wall Street Journal reported in August. Little has been said since about the product’s efficacy, it’s probably a safe assumption that the treatment was less than successful.
A great blog, Respectful Insolence, introduces some of the Ebola charlatans out there – including one that’s purportedly received a hand-delivered warning letter to can it on claiming cannabidiol and silver nanoparticles have therapeutic use. Other top snake oil contenders are high dose vitamin C, cinnamon bark and oregano.
Back to Hamburg: Although the U.S. is not on the front lines of the Ebola epidemic, she said the FDA needs to help expedite access to the minimally studied diagnostics, drug and vaccines that could play a crucial role in identifying and treating patients, and preventing epidemic spread by improving public health options.
Hamburg said the FDA feels “a real sense of urgency that we’re working with all our partners,” but the Ebola pandemic has presented “a complicated environment.” Regulators are attempting to move quickly, “but not lose sight of the fact that we have to make sure these products provide some real utility and liability for the purposes they’re intended.”
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Related: Hamburg addressed the medical device industry’s flight to Europe
