FTC Investigation of Anti-Bioterrorist Internet Sites ‘Widening’
The Federal Trade Commission has widened its investigation of Internet sites claiming to offer cures or prevention for bioterrorism, the AP/Dallas Morning News reports. Recently, the FTC began "special monitoring" of the Internet, searching for companies making "misrepresentations" about products that claim to sell anthrax-protection products or cures for the disease. In a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) this week, the FTC said that "more Web sites claiming to fight bioterrorism are being launched everyday." Federal officials and more than 30 states already are investigating Web sites offering dietary supplements as anthrax or smallpox treatments, gas masks and "home test kits" for anthrax. "A small number of marketers may attempt to take advantage of the public's concern [about bioterrorism]. Stopping these marketers and preventing consumer injury is a top priority," FTC Chair Timothy Muris wrote (AP/Dallas Morning News, 11/6).
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