Arizona pot dispensary ordered to stop advertising coronavirus treatment
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The Arizona attorney general’s office has ordered a marijuana dispensary in Phoenix to immediately stop selling a sodium chlorite solution that's been touted a virus killer and immune system booster.
While the store didn’t say the concoction cured COVID-19, the YiLo Superstore in Phoenix was hocking an "immunization stabilizer tincture" that could be mixed with water "should you come down with a life-threatening virus."
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The store also advertised the solution on its website under the headings "CoronaV instructions" and "a word on Coronavirus," according to a report in the Arizona Republic.
CORONAVIRUS IN THE US: STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN
The store on Friday was handed a cease-and-desist order by the state’s attorney general’s office and warned that if it did not stop selling the concoction and take down their ads, it could face a fine of up to $10,000.
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"In the absence of scientific evidence, an advertisement suggesting that a product could provide immunization against COVID-19 creates a misrepresentation and a false promise of a medical preventative or cure," the AG's senior litigation counsel wrote in the order.
Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich went further: "Exploiting vulnerable patients' health concerns by selling fake cures or treatments for a serious disease is wrong.”
As the coronavirus and its accompanying fears spread across the country, so have people trying to take advantage of the crisis.
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New York officials recently ordered the Jim Bakker television show to stop marketing colloidal silver products. Trump himself falsely suggested a drug typically used to treat malaria patients had been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, police in Bowie, Md. are investigating reports of a man wearing an orange vest and blue surgical mask who approached people at two homes claiming to be inspecting for coronavirus. He actually entered one home before a resident confronted him. A similar scam was sweeping through Germany.
Marketing schemers have quickly pivoted to offering “senior care packages” that include hand sanitizer or even a purported vaccine, which doesn't exist. Some falsely claim that Trump has ordered that seniors get tested.
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It's all a trick to get personal information that can be used to bill federal and state health programs, health officials said.
“It's a straight-up ruse to get your Medicare number or your Social Security number under the guise of having a test kit or a sanitary kit sent to you,” said Christian Schrank, the assistant inspector general for investigations at Health and Human Services.
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In the U.S., the Justice Department created a central fraud hotline (1-866-720-5721 or disaster@leo.gov) and has ordered U.S. attorneys to appoint special coronavirus fraud coordinators.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.