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October 19, 2009

Glymetrol, and the Dangers of Alt Med

I teach thousands of students a year. Many of those students have diabetes. Diabetes can be fatal if not properly controlled. Luckily, with modern medical advances, we can control diabetes. The students I see live good lives. A new supplement threatens their health and quality of life.

Diabetes is caused by problems with pancreas. Without a properly working pancreas, your body can't properly control your blood sugar levels. Let me say now that unregulated diabetes can be fatal. This is not something to mess around with. Some cases of diabetes can be controlled with changes in diet, and others require injections of insulin. With these careful measures, people affected by diabetes can live fairly normal lives; without them, they can die.

The other night, I was watching TV and saw an ad that is incredibly dangerous. The ad was for a supplement called Glymetrol. They are making a few simple claims: that it is safe and effective, and that you will receive the first bottle free. I want to review these clams, and try to make it clear why this ad frustrates me so much.

First, let's look at "safe and effective." Glymetrol is catching the wave of the natural medicine fad. One of the underlying fallacies throughout the advertisement of Glymetrol is the "all-natural" fallacy. The idea is that if it's natural, it's good for you, or at least better than processed items. This is just wrong, arsenic is natural too. Whether or not it's natural bears no relation to its safety or effectiveness. The bottom line on this note is that no one knows if Glymetrol works or not. It has not been tested clinically. There is some plausibility to some of the ingredients, but we need to remember we are dealing with a life-threatening disease. Because there is no clinical data, it could be helpful... or just as easily harmful. If you are going to be relying on anything to regulate your diabetes, it should be shown to work, and to work safely. "Safe and effective?" We have no idea.

The other really despicable part of this whole deal is who they are marketing it to. They say you get your first bottle free, and that it is part of a "market trial offer." When I was watching the commercial, I thought that market trial offer meant that it was part of a study. The fine print let me know otherwise. Unless you read those tiny letters at the bottom of the screen, you could easily be tricked into thinking that Glymetrol was being tested in a clinical trial. The first bottle is also not quite free. Again, the problem is in the fine print.
If you are enjoying the product and loving the results after 30 days, do nothing. Only then will your credit card be automatically billed 1 easy payment for the 2 bottles at just $49.99 PER bottle.
So after the thirty days you not only get charged for the first bottle, but for a second bottle as well. Bottom line, this is a complete scam.

I could go on and on about the other claims in their FAQ areas, and about similar products. For me this highlights the reason I am so against alternative medicine. They are asking people with a life-threatening disease to rely solely on them for treatment. Beyond that, they are making deceptive marketing claims to lure people into purchasing their product. Medicine needs to be shown to a reasonable extent that it is both effective and safe before it is sold to the general public. Just look back to radioactive water. I can't stand of thought of the diabetic kids I work with being without their insulin. I want them to be able to live healthy lives, and have the information they need to avoid scams like this.

For a more detailed breakdown I recommend this article.
http://www.everydayhealth.com/blog/zimney-health-and-medical-news-you-can-use/glymetrol-a-scam-targeting-people-with-diabetes/

6 comments:

Robin Lahiri said...

I bought the 2 bottles as well from the same TV ad, but never saw that fine print. They took my credit card and 3x the sales rep assured me that was for the $9.95 shipping only.

The FTC has clear Federal laws against Deceptive Trade practices and all of us are protected by those laws. The ingedients in these pills look great as they all help control blood sugar, along with diet and excersise.

If it is a scam these guys are foolish ; the billing an advance order issue against the backdrop of FREE TRIAL would certainly be deceptive, especially in light of the sales reps assurances that the CCard was for shipping only.

Give these guys a chance. Lets see. Did you buy the bills ? Did you try them ? What are YOUR results ? Did they overbill YOUR credit card ?
Did you go for the FREE trial or is all this just libelous speculation ? Give these guys a chance and let the FTC and FDA do thier job.

If it helps me, Im buying more. If the free trial turns out not free, I will dispute the charge and win - and then call the Federal Trade COmmission. You should do the same ; but reserve injurious comment until then.

Most kids that have juvenile diabetes are Type 1 Insulin Dependant. These pills are intended for type II i believe....


I am trying the natural herbs in those bottles faithfully before every meal, and measuring blood sugar readings daily to watch the trend. I excersise hard about 2x a week and soft about 1-2x per week. I kmow i should walk an hour daily, but its busy between the kids, work, business, travel, and the guitar and wife - or wife and guitar i should say.

In the meantime - I will report me ACTUAL results of my so far FREE trial ....
(and will call the credit card company to check charges as well...)

Ali Marie said...

Robin:

I would recommend you look at this website: http://www.buyglymetrol.com/

This is the official website for buying Glymetrol, and probably has a bit more information than the TV commercial. There are a few red flags on the site. First, which you might want to look at, is the fine print that Carver discussed. It is outlined well at the bottom of the page.

Second, it lists a few "benefits" of Glymetrol.

"-Healthy Blood Sugar Management*
-Maintains Healthy Glucose Metabolism*
-Maintains Healthy Insulin Sensitivity*
-Maintains Healthy Glucose Concentration*"

There is a asterisk after each of these claims, which relates to this disclaimer:

"*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."

Last time I check, a medicine is supposed to treat, cure, or prevent a disease. If Glymetrol is a medicine, and does not treat diabetes... then what exactly is it doing?

I respect your decision to try Glymetrol. Actually, we'd be very interested to see what happens. Please let us know if this product does turn out to be more than a pseudoscientific scam. We're more than happy to change our opinions, if you can provide evidence that contradicts what we've found in our research.

TheGanjaGuru said...

Robin is cleary a rep for the company of some form, so I doubt you'll be hearing back from her. I too am extremely frustrated by these commercials as both my grandparents have daibetes, and both are elderly and sadly, they are easily manipulated. This product preys on the elderly and underinformed. This type of manipulation should be a crime. I'm glad to see that you are fighting the good fight.

Sincerely,
TheGanjaGuru
http://theganjaguru.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

I have tried the pills, they did not work for me. I did not see any difference in my blood sugar #'s. I have been trying 3 different 800 numbers to get a hold of customer service for three weeks now only to get a infomercial playing. And today I get charges on my debt card for $99.98. THIS IS A SCAM!!
AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED

Sincerely
Dana Polton
Davenport, Iowa

Anonymous said...

You should check out my angry review about Glyemtrol. I am really p'oed at them because they stole $100 from me.

http://uswgo.com/another-victim-of-the-glymetrol-marketing-scam-brian-hill-claims-free-trial-is-a-scam.htm

and this isn't spam it's relevant to this post and I want people to see how their marketing is just stinky. They lied to me and took $100 and have our credit card number. They deserve the review I given them.

anti spam service said...

Scams can really happen anywhere and everywhere. It is important to be vigilant when it comes to online purchases. Google is available anytime, so if you get a chance to check a certain website, then do it. In that way, scams like this can be prevented.