The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent letters warning 23 U.S. companies, one Canadian company, and one Australian company to stop selling products that that claim to cure or prevent cancer.

“Fraud involving cancer treatments can be especially heartbreaking.” said David Elder, director of FDA’s Office of Enforcement in the Office of Regulatory Affairs.

The products contain ingredients and herbal remedies such as bloodroot, shark cartilage, coral calcium, cesium, ellagic acid, Cat’s Claw, an herbal tea called Essiac, and mushroom varieties such as Agaricus Blazeii, Shitake, Maitake, and Reishi.

“Although promotions of bogus cancer ‘cures’ have always been a problem, the Internet has provided a mechanism for them to flourish,” said Margaret O’K. Glavin, the FDA’s associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. “These warning letters are an important step to ensure that consumers do not become the victim of false ‘cures’ that may cause greater harm to their health.”

Because these products claim to cure, treat, mitigate or prevent disease, and these products have not been shown to be safe and effective for their labeled conditions of use, they are unapproved new drugs marketed in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

Examples of fraudulent claims for these products include:

“Treats all forms of cancer”
“Causes cancer cells to commit suicide!”
“80% more effective than the world’s number one cancer drug”
“Skin cancers disappear”
“Target cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone”
“Shrinks malignant tumors”
“Avoid painful surgery, radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or other conventional treatments”

Source
 FDA