St. Pete firm told to stop making bogus Covid-19 claims
April 24, 2020 - UPDATE: Stemedix Inc., a regenerative medicine company in St. Petersburg, took action quickly after getting a warning letter from the Federal Trade Commission about its advertising. The FTC sent the letter April 17, warning the company about claims the FTC saw on the Stemedix website, suggesting that stem cell therapy could be used to treat patients infected with Covid-19. The website content was included in a blog that referred to an article that originated in China, Fred Palmer, director of operations at Stemedix told the St. Pete Catalyst. "As soon as we got the letter from the FTC, we immediately removed it," Palmer said. The company also spoke to the blog writer about the post and responded to the FTC, updating the agency on its actions, Palmer said. It's unlawful to advertise that a product can prevent, treat or cure human disease unless a company has scientific evidence substantiating that the claims are true, the FTC said. "For Covid-19, no such study is currently known to exist," the FTC said. Stemedix was one of 21 companies throughout the United States receiving warnings from the FTC to stop making unsubstantiated claims that their products and therapies can treat or prevent coronavirus.