Dynapharm (or Dangerpharm?)

Why do we allow companies to sell products they say are "Anti AIDS"?

Several people have posted advertisements on Facebook for products from a company call Dynapharm.

Dynapharm's web site offers a range of products in various categories:

• CLEANSING - DETOXIFYING
• COSMETICS - PERSONAL CARE
• DIET - WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
• HEALTHY PLANTS - FERTILISERS
• IMMUNE BOOSTER - ANTI AGING
• MENTAL - PHYSICAL - SEXUAL HEALTH
• NATURAL RELIEF
• NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

Amongst all the usual nonsense about "personal care", "cleansing" and "nutritional supplements" there are some more worrying things.

For instance, their "Bee Pollen Capsule" offers a range of benefits:

"Traditional uses 
Improving endurance and vitality, Extending longevity, Recovery from chronic illness, Adding weight during convalescence, Reducing cravings and addictions, Regulating the intestines, Building new blood, Prevent infectious diseases like colds and flu (has antibiotic properties), Overcome retardation and developmental problems in children, Protect against radiation, Protect & whiten skin, Prevent anemia, Improve nervous system, Anti-cancer qualities, Anti-allergy, Anti-asthma, Prevent prostate enlargement"

Look closely at those claims.

• "Overcome retardation and developmental problems in children"
• "Protect against radiation"
• "Protect & whiten skin"

Those are fairly ambitious health claims. But it gets worse. Much worse.

Whoever invented their "Total Health Package" deserves a Nobel Prise for Medicine if what they claim is actually true. They describe it as follows:

"Removes accumulated waste & toxins (free radicals, uric acid, nitrogenous wastes from the body. Replenishes loss during the cleansing phase and boosts the immune system. Builds a protective barrier against viruses and bacteria and prevents proliferation of diseases."

And what do Dynapharm say you can use this "package" for?

• Strengthens heartbeat
• For Digestion/diarrhea
• Anti-blood clot
• Anti-stroke
• Anti-cancer
• Anti-aging
• Heart Disease
• Diabetes
• Cholesterol Control
• Strengthen the immune system
• Anti aging
• Anti AIDS
• Anti-tumor
• Anti-radiation
• Anemia
• Stroke protection/ therapy
• Senility/ Alzheimer’s

Did you spot it? Let's overlook blood clots, aging, anemia, and diarrhea (sic). Let's look at the big one.

"Anti AIDS"

That's just scandalous and Dynapharm should be ashamed of themselves. So should all of their distributors. In fact they should be locked up because advertising such products breaks Sections 396-399 of the Penal Code which outlaws "prohibited advertisements" specifically for a range of conditions including cancer.

The local distributors I've spoken to claim that their products have been "approved by the Ministry of Health Botswana" which I find difficult to believe.

When I asked to see this approval I was told that it would be sent to me.

Strangely enough, this never happened and instead I was told a series of stories about why I wasn't allowed to get a copy of this "approval" from MOH. The conversation went like this:

Teddy N. Kgasa: I will send it to you Sir
Richard Harriman: When?
Teddy N. Kgasa: Come to the office KB mall
Richard Harriman: No. Please email or fax them to me a you agreed to do earlier today.
Teddy N. Kgasa: What do you want to do with it? Come see it
Richard Harriman: I want to read it. Why won't you send it to me?
Teddy N. Kgasa: The rules of the company
Richard Harriman: What do these rules say?
Teddy N. Kgasa: They do not allow me to send it to you
Richard Harriman: So if I come to your office can I take a copy of the document?
Teddy N. Kgasa: You can just see the document
Richard Harriman: Can I take a picture of it with my cellphone?
Teddy N. Kgasa: Not allowed
Richard Harriman: So basically your company refuses to offer any proof that you have such "approval" from the Ministry of Health?
Teddy N. Kgasa: You can come see it but you can't take pictures. We don't know what you are going to do with it
Richard Harriman: Is it secret?
Teddy N. Kgasa: It is not secret
Richard Harriman: Then why won't you publish it? Instead, can you tell me what it says?
Teddy N. Kgasa: It allows the products to be given to people
Richard Harriman: What are the exact words?
Teddy N. Kgasa: It is a long document

So Dynapharm is advertising products that are ineffective, illegal and massively abusive in my view.

Why are they still allowed to trade here?

Update

Teddy later gave me a contact for someone who he said would be able to provide me with more information on the evidence that Dynapharm's products can do the things they claim, including Teddy's claim that they "counter the effects of HIV".

The contact is a "Dr John" who can only be reached, it seems, at his Yahoo email address. I emailed "Dr John" asking for the evidence and also for his credentials as a doctor. This is the reply I received (verbatim):

"Hi Richard ,

I received your email and I read your blog on dynapharm products.
Whereas am not the appointed spokesperson for Dynapharm , I am in a position to ( although not obliged )

1. Offer scietific evidence as you requested
2. Respond to any other queries as you may inquire for the benefit to you and your readers.

Therefore on the HIV issue , I will respond soon.
However ,I will do that on my own capacity not as a representative of the company .

Much as I appreciate the consumer oversight ,its strange to write an article and outrightly tell your readers how the products dont work ,yet you could have inquired further so as to have a balanced reporting.

Distributors are not representatives of the company and have no right to speak on behalf of the company.

I further need you to know that the person you were talking is not a representative of the company.

You will within 3 days receive a full attached response on your specific inquiries and the issues you raised on your blog!

Thanks in advance.
Dr. John."

You'll see more when he replies.