[ELI5] How governments allow snake oil “medicine” to sell on TV, light night? Some of these products are dangerous to people, like prostate crap that will do nothing and may prevent the people to survive if diagnosed too late?

Question

[ELI5] How governments allow snake oil “medicine” to sell on TV, light night? Some of these products are dangerous to people, like prostate crap that will do nothing and may prevent the people to survive if diagnosed too late?

In: 1634

Answer 1

When the US was founding the Food and Drug Administration, it was set to put strict regulations on everything that made even vaguely medical claims. The supplement industry successfully lobbied to be excluded from its oversight. So long as something labeled a supplement doesn’t make specific medical claims, it’s out of reach of federal regulators. That’s why every magic penis pill and fat melting shake makes vague claims that are left for the target to interpret.