Scams on the Market

[Brando]

Hey guys,

I just want to share something with everyone. If you're like me, you'll try anything to keep your hair and better yet, grow it back. Before getting on Propecia and eventually getting a transplant, I tried a few products out of desperation. First, I tried Shen Min Hair Vitamins. I found them on a website and they were definitely too good to be true. I spent a good bit of money and was on them for a little over a year. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I then discovered Regenix when Matthew McConaughey was on David Letterman and he claimed this product actually grew his hair back! This stuff is very expensive. I had to send in a few samples of my hair (with the bulb intact) from the two temporal regions, the front,and the crown and they mailed me back a letter telling me I was a great candidate and they set me up on a program. I did this for about 7-9 months, again...a total waste of time and especially MONEY! This stuff is applied in a liquid form and turns your scalp pretty red. It sometimes burns. I just wanted to let everyone know these two products I tried did not work one bit. Keep your money and spend it on something that will work, like Propecia!

[Brando]

Hey guys,

I just want to share something with everyone. If you're like me, you'll try anything to keep your hair and better yet, grow it back. Before getting on Propecia and eventually getting a transplant, I tried a few products out of desperation. First, I tried Shen Min Hair Vitamins. I found them on a website and they were definitely too good to be true. I spent a good bit of money and was on them for a little over a year. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I then discovered Regenix when Matthew McConaughey was on David Letterman and he claimed this product actually grew his hair back! This stuff is very expensive. I had to send in a few samples of my hair (with the bulb intact) from the two temporal regions, the front,and the crown and they mailed me back a letter telling me I was a great candidate and they set me up on a program. I did this for about 7-9 months, again...a total waste of time and especially MONEY! This stuff is applied in a liquid form and turns your scalp pretty red. It sometimes burns. I just wanted to let everyone know these two products I tried did not work one bit. Keep your money and spend it on something that will work, like Propecia!

[HairBeThere]

This is a good post. I think anyone wanting to try a drug or treatment should ask the forum members here, if they have heard of any success.

 

Thanks Brando, for the 2 to stay away from.

[WVhair]

does anyone order Propecia off the Web? How does it work in comparison to Rogaine? I came across a website that had a generic version of Propecia (made by a pharmicutical company in India) and was considering getting a perscription and trying it.

[Smoothy]

Brando,

Thanks for the feedback. I've heard that the Vitamins are a scam- no better than a multi daily. Also, I have heard mixed results on Regenix-- but nothing better than Propecia/Rogain results. THanks for your feedback.

[Guest]

Is there any studies on saw palmetto?Chinese herbs?

[Robert_]

does anyone order Propecia off the Web? How does it work in comparison to Rogaine? I came across a website that had a generic version of Propecia (made by a pharmicutical company in India) and was considering getting a perscription and trying it.

 

WVHair,

 

This is from a previous post. Hopefully it will help you to make an informed decision before you decide that saving a few pennies is a wise choice:

 

Online drugs: Why cheaper isn't always better

 

10:41 PM PST on Monday, March 1, 2004

 

 

By ELISA HAHN / KING 5 News

 

We are a nation ready to pop a better pill, lining up at pharmacies around the corner, across the border and along the information highway.

 

The Food and Drug Administration estimates three to four million Americans are buying lower-cost foreign drugs, because to many, better means cheaper.

 

But at what price to your health? In some cases, unscrupulous businesses are only too happy to sell you something that just looks like the drug you need, but contains little or none of the actual drug.

 

We purchased popular drugs online from some Mexican and Canadian pharmacies. Weeks later, the first to arrive was Viagra in a hand-addressed envelope, clearly postmarked from India.

 

Inside was a little cardboard, a few sheets of paper, the bill from our Mexican on-line pharmacy, a plastic bag and four unmarked pills.

 

But the pill had absolutely none of the active ingredient. While it wouldn't hurt you physically, it could take a psychological toll.

 

"His dreams would be deflated to say the least," said forensic toxicologist Dr. Ernest Lykissa. "I don't know how else to put it."

 

And how does India figure into all this?

 

Experts warn these days fancy Web sites need only a basic computer. Our pharmacist found a supplier in India, probably through the Internet.

 

Was our finding just a fluke?

 

Not according to the FDA, which is in the middle of testing 1600 drugs purchased outside the United States, including birth control medicines.

 

??It's a fake knockoff of that contraceptive patch you see on television," the FDA's Dr. Richard Hubbard said.

 

There was no active ingredient.

 

Hubbard also showed us seizure and prostate medications an elderly man bought, which were supposedly made in Canada.

 

"In fact he was getting these fake knockoffs from India," Dr. Hubbard said.

 

"We have seen other examples of Indian companies selling drugs through Canada, or directly over the Internet," Dr. Hubbard said.

 

We bought the top five U.S. prescribed drugs online from two Mexican pharmacies.

 

The first batch was purchased from Safemeds.com.

 

The Premarin, Synthroid and Zoloft equivalents were relatively pure and potent, but the Norvasc had up to ten times the acceptable level of certain heavy metals, and its potency was a borderline acceptable 92 percent.

 

Poor manufacturing processes also tainted the Lipitor samples with similar problems, one was just under 79 percent potent.

 

"That means you're only getting about three-quarters of what you're supposed to be getting," forensic toxicologist Dr. Ernest Lykissa said.

 

The second group we bought from myrxforless.com.

 

Contamination was worse.

 

The Zoloft had nearly 20 times the acceptable level of certain metals, including an elevated level of arsenic.

 

There were similar troubles with the Norvasc and Premarin, and the Synthroid had elevated mercury.

 

The worst was the Lipitor which had 20 milligrams of contaminants, and just 80 percent potency.

 

"I would definitely categorize it as a dangerous drug," Dr. Lykissa said.

 

Heavy metals threaten kidneys and could cause bladder cancer.

 

Also, weakened drugs could devastate weakened patients.

 

"Is it potentially fatal?" Dr. Lykissa was asked. "It could be, depending on the individual," he said.

 

The FDA's response after reviewing our results.?

 

"These are contaminants that the FDA would never allow to be in a U.S. produced drug," the administration's Dr. Richard Hubbard said.

 

So who's behind the fancy Web sites?

 

We tracked Safemeds to an office in Mexico City, where they explained why foreign drugs are cheaper.

 

"The regulation system is much stricter in the United States than here in Mexico," Arturo Silva with Safemeds said.

 

The only address for Rx for Less is a post office in the Mexican border town of Agua Prieta.

 

But we tracked box number 65, to a corner drug store called Maxi Farmacia.

 

Owner Ricardo Luevano says his Mexican supplier gets the medication from many countries.

 

Then he said he didn't sell the drugs we tested. He insisted quality was fine until we showed him our test results.

 

"You don't recognize any of those drugs?" we asked. "No," Luevano said. "You don't? We asked again. "No," he said once more.

 

But then, the very drug he wanted to show us as a quality product, Lipitor, was among the worst of the medicines we've tested.

 

"Our medicine is bad?" Luevano asked.

 

The problem is it's hard for even a farmacia to know where its drugs are coming from.

 

"You may be dealing with an individual who on Saturday is making illegal illicit drugs, and on Sunday says, ??let's make Viagra,' " Dr. Lykissa said.

 

Or something that looks just like it

 

We shared our test results with the head of global security for Pfizer, who calls the products counterfeits.

 

"The counterfeiters have become so sophisticated these days in packaging and presenting counterfeit products that visual authentication of the product is almost impossible," said R. John Theriault, Pfizer's Vice President for global security.

 

 

-Robert