Bayer to Pay $3.3 Million To Settle One A Day Vitamin Claims

Washington, DC: Bayer AG, maker of One a Day vitamins, has agreed to pay $3.3 million to settle investigations into claims of deceptive marketing, specifically that the vitamin can cure, treat or prevent any disease including cancer, while lacking the scientific evidence to back up those claims.

The settlement was reached with Attorney Generals from California, Oregon, and Illinois.

Additional terms of the settlement agreement ensure that Bayer will be barred from making future fraudulent claims regarding the vitamin.

Oregon AG John Kroger filed a complaint accusing Bayer of "deceptively leveraging fear of prostate cancer" in order to market One A Day multivitamins for men. Bayer had claimed that 'emerging research' suggested that the use of the vitamin, which contains the mineral selenium, may reduce the risk for prostate cancer. However, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) said there is no 'emerging evidence'.

According to the CSPI "a seven-year, $118-million study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that selenium does not prevent prostate cancer in healthy men. That massive trial, which involved 35,000 men, was abruptly halted when it became clear to researchers that selenium was not protecting the men from prostate cancer and may have been causing unexplained cases of diabetes."

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Published on Oct-28-10