C’est la vie

Charlatan’s Web

How do I know I’m a pediatrician and not a businessperson? Because when I hear that parents, kids, and coaches are more aware of sports-related concussion, I think “good news,” not, “Hmm, I wonder if I can use this trend to sell someone some useless garbage in a bottle?” Not everyone, however, is a pediatrician, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken notice.

In an announcement last week, the FDA warned the public about unscrupulous dietary supplement companies peddling products that claim to prevent, treat, or cure concussions and traumatic brain injuries because, you know, there’s stuff that can do that. The FDA’s greatest concern is not that athletes and their families may waste money on this snake oil (Was there every a time when rusty snakes were a common problem?) but that young athletes will put themselves at risk by returning to play before they’re fully recovered, believing that they are actually protected from further brain injury. The companies, of course, have found the perfect market, since the more injured someone’s brain is, the more likely that person is to believe their claims.

I certainly hope the FDA is serious when they say they plan to take enforcement actions against these mountebanks. Or, as I say in my online French lessons, “The cow in a hat gives the monkey with a book an apple and an orange.”

David L. Hill, M.D., FAAP, is the author of Dad to Dad: Parenting Like a Pro (AAP Publishing, 2012). He is also vice president of Cape Fear Pediatrics in Wilmington, N.C., and  adjunct assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He serves as Program Director for the AAP Council on Communications and Media and as an executive committee member of the North Carolina Pediatric Society. He has recorded commentaries for NPR's All Things Considered and provided content for various print, television, and Internet outlets.