Herbal Groups advertising referred to FDA for review

NEW YORK The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus on Tuesday referred advertising published by Herbal Groups to the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for further review.

NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, had asked Herbal Groups to provide substantiation for health claims made for Prostalex Plus, which included: “Prostalex Plus has been shown in clinical studies to reduce the size of the prostate, leading to a reduced urge to urinate, improvement in urinary flow, improvement in erectile issues and increased sex drive.”

Further, NAD was concerned that “the Prostate Health Blog,” which is linked to the advertiser’s Web site and appears to be an independently written blog, is actually advertising by the company.

In response to the NAD inquiry, the advertiser submitted a study on Prostalex, but declined to participate in the NAD process. Pursuant to Section 2.9 of the NAD/NARB Procedures, NAD referred this matter to the FTC and FDA for review.