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- Reverse treatment: prosecutor's office demands to close a publication that passes off dietary supplements as medicines
Reverse treatment: prosecutor's office demands to close a publication that passes off dietary supplements as medicines
Following Izvestia's publications, the Moscow Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit in court to shut down the newspaper ProZdorovye and the online store Zdravomed, which advertise and sell dietary supplements under the guise of medicines. For many years they offered users "miracle drugs", including with the help of recommendations of non-existent doctors. In the lawsuit, the supervisory agency asks to recognize the information posted in the newspaper and on the website as prohibited in Russia. The Antimonopoly Service has already brought the business owners to administrative responsibility for violation of the law on advertising. Lawyers believe that there are signs of fraud in the actions of the distributors of pseudo-drugs, but there is no criminal case yet. How the scheme to deceive pensioners worked - in the material "Izvestia".
How pensioners were sold dietary supplements
Moscow Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against the newspaper "ProZdorovye" and online store "Zdravomed", selling pensioners herbal extracts under the guise of medicines, reported "Izvestia" in the association "Antikontrafakt". In the lawsuit, the supervisory agency asks to recognize the information posted in these sources - in the newspaper and on the website - as prohibited in Russia.
The decision to appeal to the court was made following a joint investigation by Izvestia and Antikontrafakt. The case concerned a network operating in the country selling nutritional supplements and concentrates for preparing soft drinks, which are passed off as miracle cures.
Thus, in the newspaper "ProZdorovanie", which is distributed in mailboxes across the country, they write that these products can help even where official medicine is powerless. At the same time, on the website of "Zdravomed" and in the cards of goods on marketplaces sellers indicate that "the drug is not a medicinal product". But there are no such markings in the newspaper.
The composition of the preparations, produced "turnkey" in one of the laboratories near Moscow, includes only plant components, as follows from their description. For example, Profiton suppositories contain only antiseptic and cocoa butter, but in the newspaper they are presented as "our answer to the American atomic bomb" and allegedly can cure almost all diseases - from GI problems to acne.
Ear drops "Lorica" actually contain only red grape juice, lemongrass fruit extract and B vitamins. The bestseller "Sosudolitin" contains cherry juice, willow bark extracts, horse chestnut fruit, hawthorn and vitamin premix. "Silaflex" for joints - red grape juice, extracts of white willow bark and roots of marsh cinquefoil.
The authors of "ProHealth" claim that these drugs can treat GI problems, restore joints, blood vessels and hearing, get rid of tinnitus, eliminate the effects of heart attack, stroke and return male health. Describing on several pages the miraculous properties of extracts, readers are invited to "sales".
In November last year, Izvestia visited one of them and saw that elderly people were lining up and buying up advertised drugs in packs, paying thousands and tens of thousands of rubles for them.
The newspaper publishes the opinions of people who are presented as candidates and doctors of science, professors of world renown - they agitate for these "miracle drugs" and guarantee fast results. The newspaper also publishes reviews of happy customers who tell about the incredible therapeutic effect of the drugs. As the experts of "Antikontrafakt" found out, both doctors and buyers turned out to be fictitious.
"Izvestia" compared the cost price of the supplements offered and their retail price - the markup amounted to 4.2 thousand percent. For example, an entrepreneur selling Yasnolan eye drops told Izvestia that she buys the drug at a factory in St. Petersburg for 20 rubles per pack. At the same time, online at various sites these drops cost from 500 to 2658 rubles depending on the volume.
- Thedrugs advertised in the newspaper do not have state registration or are registered as cosmetics, perfume, food additives," Sergey Zelenets, head of the Association of Expertise of Medicines and Other Goods, told Izvestia. - These pseudo-drugs simply cannot physically produce the miraculous effects attributed to them. Elderly people not only lose their pension savings, but also waste time on false treatment.
As previously explained by Antikontrafakt, almost all products advertised in the newspaper and on the website have expired or suspended authorization documentation.
Who owns "Zdravomed"
The prosecutor's office conducted an inspection and concluded that the advertising of drugs was distributed "with deviation from the requirements of the law," according to the prosecutor's office's response to Artur Taymazov, a member of the Anti-Counterfeiting Board of Trustees anda member of the State Duma deputy.
In the course of the inspection, the prosecutors found that Semyon Scherbukha, an individual entrepreneur, was behind the advertising of the supplements. Apparently, he is also the main beneficiary of this business.
It follows from the document signed by Marina Volskaya, the head of the department for supervision over observance of rights and freedoms of citizens of the Moscow prosecutor's office, that Shcherbukha has long been under the control of supervisory agencies. In particular, in 2024 he was checked by the antimonopoly service. But he did not respond to the orders issued by the officials.
"In the course of the inspection (UFAS) revealed the fact of unlawful distribution of IP Scherbukha S.G. advertising of goods for cosmetic, medical and hygienic purposes. In order to stop unlawful activities Scherbukha S.G. was issued a prescription, which has not been executed", - stated in the response.
In April 2024, the Moscow UFAS brought the entrepreneur to administrative responsibility under the article on violation of legislation on advertising. And a month after Izvestia's publication, in December 2024, the Moscow UFAS again found the same violations of the law on advertising and made a determination to initiate proceedings against the businessman. Its consideration is scheduled for January 28.
- It is important that law enforcement agencies have paid attention to the problem," Artur Taymazov told Izvestia. - I am sure it will help protect our relatives and friends from unscrupulous sellers.
According to Baisolt Khamzatov, First Vice-President of the Antikontrafakt Association, the matter has moved forward, but the question remains open as to why the described scheme was in effect for so long.
-Even now, a number of representatives of the executive authorities persistently do not see the corpus delicti, and criminal cases are not initiated ," the expert told Izvestia. - We plan to organize a meeting with the State Duma's anti-corruption committee and the Interior Ministry's Main Department of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption and draw attention to this problem.
Business or fraud
According to the Rusprofile database, Semyon Scherbukha was registered as an individual entrepreneur in March 2012, his main activity is courier services. In November 2023, he registered the trademark "Zdravomed".
The site of the store of the same name, which the Prosecutor's office asks the court to block, at the time of release of the material was inaccessible. In November 2024, when Izvestia was preparing the material, it was functioning. Nevertheless, "miracle drugs" can still be bought on marketplaces.
Vadim Tkachenko, founder and CEO of the vvCube consulting group, noted that any actions related to deception and misleading bona fide citizens can be qualified as fraudulent.
- In such schemes we can talk about the corpus delicti, as there is both intent and misleading the consumer, - said the lawyer.
Anton Pulyaev, managing partner of ADVOLAW, agrees with him. According to him, the prosecutor's office is not authorized to conduct pre-investigation checks, initiate and investigate criminal cases. This is the prerogative of bodies carrying out operational and investigative activities.
