Health

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Levitra Pulls a Boner

On the promotional package of Levitra (a pill like Viagra used to make Mr. Happy stand at attention), the company boldly claims that “Levitra is clinically proven to work for men with erectile disfunction, even those with high blood pressure…”

Levitra

At the bottom of the page is this typical warning:

*MOUSE PRINT: “Please see Important Safety Information on back panel.”

The back panel spells out various possible dire consequences such as erections lasting longer than four hours, and sudden loss of vision or hearing. It also warns:

*MOUSE PRINT:

Levitra

One has to wonder how many people with high blood pressure may have only seen the big print representation that Levitra was seemingly safe for those with high blood pressure, but missed the smaller but stiffer warning to steer clear.

Clarification: The warning is actually a two-part one for those with high blood pressure: (1) For those with high blood pressure but taking drugs to control it, you are advised to consult your doctor before taking this drug; and (2) for those with uncontrolled blood pressure, you are advised not to take the drug at all. This is substantially different on both counts from the unqualified advertised claim that Levitra is suitable for people even with high blood pressure.

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Kaiser Health Insurance: $3 a Day?

Everyone knows that health care costs are going through the roof, and as a result so is the price of health insurance. So when Kaiser Permanente advertised coverage for only $3 a day, it caught Mouse Print*’s attention.

kaiserlarge1.jpg

Coverage for prescriptions, doctors’ visits, hospitalization, and emergency care for only $3 a day?  Wow!

After trying zip codes in Massachusetts, New York, and Illinois with no coverage available, a Maryland zip code finally yielded some policies and prices. 

*MOUSE PRINT:  A policy for one 50-something male would cost monthly:

kaiserquotes.jpg

No policy was anywhere close to the advertised $3 a day, and the best plan was seven times higher. In fact, at least in Maryland, you would have to be in your 30s or younger to find a policy at the advertised price. And what do you get for your premium dollar even at over twice the advertised price?  You must first pay $8,000 out of your own pocket (in addition to the premiums) before you get “free” doctors’ visits and hospitalization coverage.

Kaiser’s $3 ad is a come on without adequate disclosure that it applies with severe coverage limitations and applies to a narrow segment of customers.

Updated every Monday!   Subscribe to free weekly newsletter.

Smart for Life Diet: Just Eat Cookies?

If you live in one of the cities where Smart for Life has offices, no doubt you have seen their TV commercials touting their cookie diet. “I lost 35 pounds in three months by eating cookies,” says one now slender client.

They say their cookies are made from extracts of fruits, vegetables, wheat and dairy, and their commercials show all those produce and grain ingredients being loaded into their cookies. But, they only provide ingredients listings for three of their six cookies on their site. Here is their recipe for blueberry cookies.

*MOUSE PRINT:

Triple Filtered Water, Vegetable Glycerin, Doctors Protein BlendTM (Milk Protein, Egg Protein, Organic Whey Protein), Hydrolyzed Collagen (Gelatin), Organic Whole Oats, Organic Crisp Rice (Organic Brown Rice Flour, Organic Molasses, Calcium Carbonate), Organic Invert Sugar, Organic Dried Blueberries, Organic Whole-Grain Wheat Flour, Vegetable Gum, Organic Soybean Oil and/or Enriched Organic Golden Flax Meal (Organic Flax, Fish Oil), Vegetable Gum, Organic Fractioned Palm Oil, Raw Organic Oat and/or Wheat Bran, Organic Oat Flour, Organic Pure Tahitian Vanilla Extract, Baking Soda, Baking Powder, Sea Salt, Natural Flavoring, Organic Nutmeg. Contains at least 60% Organic Ingredients.

Yum. Notice that water is the first ingredient, meaning there is more of it by weight than another other ingredient. And the only “vegetable” listed for the three cookies online is “vegetable glycerin” and “vegetable gum”. No wonder some people around the country are selling 12 days’ worth of leftover cookies on Craigslist. Worse, the cookies are not particularly nutritionally dense considering they will account for most of the food you will be eating daily.

The diet requires you to eat six cookies a day instead of breakfast, lunch and snacks. For dinner, you are only allowed six ounces of protein and two half-cup servings of vegetables. According to one of the company’s doctors who is interviewed, clients generally eat only about 800 calories a day. So, at 105 calories per cookie, that would only leave 170 calories for dinner. Eat hearty!

The commercial also claims “it will save you a fortune over other plans.”

*MOUSE PRINT: A two week supply of cookies is $129!  That is over $1.50 per cookie. (NutriSystem says their real food is about $10 a day, or about $140 for two weeks.)

In addition to the cost of the cookies, there is an initial evaluation and program fee,  including medical tests, and vitamins. That adds hundreds more to the cost.

The company’s website does, however, have good news for would-be clients:  “No exercise needed to lose weight” and “Eating habits improve automatically and permanently”.

Sure.