Ottawa investigating “suspicious” health Web sites

Twenty-five Canadian Web sites are being investigated by Canada's Competition Bureau following an international sweep that uncovered 1041 “suspicious” health-related sites worldwide.

About 50 were in Canada, and half of them are “potentially problematic,” says Ian Spence, leader of the bureau's National Internet Surveillance Project. Corporate offenders can face fines for a first offence under the Competition Act.

Canada's sweep is part of a global effort by 29 countries, which is led by the International Marketing Supervision Network. The network helps prevent and redress deceptive marketing practices. Previous Internet sweeps have uncovered get-rich-quick schemes and miracle cures, with 1400 of the latter uncovered worldwide. Sites whose claims appear to be untrue are dubbed “suspicious” and subjected to further investigation.

Spence says most of the 25 Canadian sites being investigated are selling longevity and weight-loss products. A number of sites sell “amino acid products” that “block the metabolic process” so that purchasers “consume fat as they sleep.” Since January 2002, the bureau has received about 100 complaints concerning weight-loss products.

Site owners may be asked to back their claims. If they can't, they are “encouraged” to drop them; a court injunction — essentially, a cease-and-desist order — may be placed against them, and fines may be applied. Spence says this has happened only a “couple of times” since the act was implemented in 1999.

But the bureau has stepped up surveillance. Beginning last August, it began conducting monthly Web searches for potentially suspicious sites, such as those that encourage people to earn money by working from home.

In late April regulators from 13 countries, including Canada and the US, launched econsumer.gov to gather and share cross-border e-commerce complaints and improve investigations. It has also released a new guide for e-consumers, which is available at www .econsumer.gov/. — Barbara Sibbald, CMAJ