Executive Summary

In speech entitled "Do The Right Thing" FTC Chairman Timothy Muris urges cable TV execs to screen weight-loss product ads for obviously deceptive claims. "Our goal is not to require television-network style clearance procedures for weight loss ads," but rather to focus on "the most egregious examples...miracle herbs that claim consumers can eat whatever they want and still lose weight," or "physically implausible" claims, Muris noted at Cable Television Advertising Bureau conference in New York Feb. 11. Vetting would not have to include diets, exercise plans or clinical studies, he added. Noting that "some claim that screening will increase their exposure to tort liability," Muris maintained, "that dog won't hunt. We will send you a list of claims [in the near future] that scientists state are not scientifically feasible"...