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InfoNet Fact

Sheet Number 205

HOW TO SPOT HIV/AIDS

FRAUD

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WHAT IS HIV/AIDS

FRAUD?

HIV fraud is the promotion, advertisement, or sale of products

that are supposed to diagnose, treat, or cure HIV when those products

have not been proven to be safe and effective for those purposes.

Regular medicine does not have a cure for HIV. Because it is

a serious illness, many people with HIV disease are willing to

try almost anything to get healthy. Some unproven treatments may

be harmless, but others can be dangerous. For example, one brand

of “Brain Wave Synchronizer” caused epileptic seizures.

Be careful when you choose treatments for HIV disease. This

fact sheet will help you evaluate treatments and be sure that

you’re not dealing with an HIV fraud.

WARNING

SIGNS OF AN HIV FRAUD

If you notice any of these warning signs when you consider an

HIV therapy, be very careful! The treatment might still be a good

one, but you should ask extra questions about it. If it sounds

too good to be true, it probably is.

  • The product prevents or cures HIV or AIDS. Researchers

    have been working hard for over 10 years, but there is not yet

    any known cure for HIV or AIDS. The only sure way to prevent

    AIDS is to avoid being infected with the HIV virus.

  • The product is a quick cure for a wide range of ailments.

    Most products are effective only against a specific illness or

    a few closely related medical problems.

  • Personal success stories are the only evidence

    that the treatment works. Of course, if a treatment works, you

    can find people who will tell you about it. But testimonials

    don’t prove that the treatment worked. Look for results of research

    studies or other evidence.

  • Be suspicious if the promoters use key words like miraculous

    cure, amazing breakthrough, foolproof, suppressed treatments,

    or secret ingredients. These words are often used

    to make you think that a treatment is valuable even though there

    may be no proof that it works.

  • The treatment was discovered and tested in another country,

    or is only available outside the US. Certainly, valuable

    treatments are developed and tested in other countries. However,

    many other countries permit health claims without the kinds of

    proof required in the United States.

  • The treatment is only available privately, for a short

    time, or from only one source; or if it requires payment

    in advance. If a product really works, why isn’t it advertised

    and available publicly? This may be a way to get around government

    regulations.

  • You can only get the treatment by paying to take part

    in testing an experimental treatment. When most experimental

    treatments are tested, people receive them free of charge.

COMMON

SENSE ABOUT UNPROVEN TREATMENTS

You might end up spending a lot of money on treatments that don’t

work. If you believe they are helping you, and you can afford

to pay for them, they might be all right. But remember:

  • Some unproven treatments might be harmful to your health.
  • Health insurance will not pay for them.
  • Using unproven treatments could make you delay using other

    treatments that really work, giving your illness time to get

    worse.

QUESTIONS

YOU SHOULD ASK

You should be careful about any HIV treatment, and especially

if you see any of the warning signs of fraud. It can be difficult

to know what’s true and what’s not, because many legitimate HIV

treatments are very expensive and difficult to understand. Here

are some questions to ask about HIV treatments:

  • Can you give me some written information about the product?
  • Did the Food and Drug Administration approve this product

    or treatment? If not, why not?

  • Which company manufactures this product? How can I contact

    them?

  • What uses has the product been tested for? Where can I see

    the test results?

  • What are the side effects, or other risks, of using this

    product or treatment?

  • Who can my doctor call for more information?
TAKE

YOUR TIME; CHECK IT OUT

If you ever feel pressured to make a decision about an HIV therapy

before you feel ready, don’t do it! Legitimate health care providers

should not be opposed if you want to get more information about

a new treatment or product.

Take your time to get more information from sources that you

trust, such as:

  • Your case manager
  • Your HIV doctor
  • An HIV/AIDS service agency
  • The National AIDS Hotline at 1-800-342-2437
  • The National AIDS Treatment Information Service at 1-800-448-0440
  • Project Inform, a community organization with a national

    hotline on AIDS treatment at 1-800-822-7422.

If you think you have found an HIV/AIDS fraud, you can report

it to the National AIDS Health Fraud Hotline at 1-888-332-1820.

THE

BOTTOM LINE

HIV disease is very complicated. No cure has been developed yet.

There are many different treatments and products that claim to

help people with HIV disease. Some of these have not been carefully

tested, and some might even be harmful.

Take your time to evaluate any product or treatment, especially

if you see any of the warning signs of an HIV fraud.

Reviewed October 18, 2002

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The New Mexico AIDS InfoNet is a project of the

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Partially funded by the National Library of Medicine

and the New Mexico Department of Health

This Fact Sheet is sponsored by the US Food and

Drug Administration (FDA)