I wrote recently about scam advertising appearing on blogs and gave a few examples. The latest is a “miracle cure” for arthritis called Finitro Forte. Any discerning doctor who reads the claims for this substance will see at once that they are grossly misleading. Far too good to be true, but we all know that patients in pain will try anything, and can be swindled out of considerable sums of money by the unscrupulous.
However the Advertising Standards Authority have jumped on this remarkably quickly and ordered the company to stop making these unjustified claims. The company did not respond to the ASAs approaches and the ads are still appearing, at least on sites originating outside the UK.
Any patient who approaches their doctor for advice on this product should be advised of the ASA ruling, and the fact that the promotion is a scam.
the whole thing is a con they take money but never send anything
ReplyDeleteI disagree. I have used the product. I have had years of pain in my knee due to chondrocalcinosis and arthritis. After an accident where I tore the cartilege (severe tears in 4 places) I decided to try Finitro while I waited for surgery. The relief was amazing and I cancelled the operation. It has also been most helpful in helping with muscular aches and pains from fibromyalgia.
ReplyDeleteHERE IN SWEDEN WE CAN JUST DRAW A LINE OVER THE WHOLE INVOICE AND MAKE TAKE A COPY TO THE POLICEDEPARTMENT IN YOUR CITY AND MAKE A FORMAL POLICE-COMPLAINT AGAINST THE COMPANY- SAYING THAT YOU DISAGREE (I DON'T KNOW THE EXACT JURIDICAL WORD FOR IT) AND THEN THE POLICE WRITES A DOCUMENT ATTACHED THAT YOU NEVER ASKED TO BE APPRACHED BY THE COMPANY, OR, IN THE OTHER CASE, THAT YOU HAVE ASKED THEH COMPANY TO DISCONTINUE THEIR DELIVERIES AND THAT IT´S AGAINST THE LAW.
DeleteWhat exactly are you disagreeing with? Is it that there is no evidence that the ingredients have any beneficial effects? If there is then please provide the evidence. Or are you disagreeing that the ASA told them to remove their misleading advertising? The link shows quite clearly that they did. This comment looks to me suspiciously like the testimonials that you find on the promotional sites, with no way of verifying authenticity.
ReplyDeleteThe ASA should take the website down if Finitro are lying (as the ASA say they are) or are they just toothless tigers (all mouth & trousers) ?
ReplyDeleteThe sites are completely different now and they changed their mailing system.
ReplyDeleteIt is a company from europe so customs are different than american ones. There is a new american rep for FINITRO that answers emails and questions and he's very responsive.
im pretty sure they are getting fda approval in america which corrects any false claims anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe packages were delayed. Probably stopped at customs because it's not a local company. The package took about a month but I was informed they have a new mailing system 10-14 days so we'll see
ReplyDeleteGail
DeleteYou get the order and tried it ?
Thanks,, Kent
Well, it happened to me. I bought it, and after 3 weeks no product and no answer from customer support. But it arrived at last. I don't want to try it because I don't trust them after all of these. Recently I received a mail where they told me the product takes 10-14 days to arrive. They have no phone or address in their webpage... strange...
DeleteI dont see false claims in the U.S page anymore. http://www.finitro.us/
ReplyDeleteThey are probably slow on updating the other websites
On a side not, the arthritis pills work very well for my wife. She has arthritis in her hands very bad but with the pills she has no complaints. Now she can keep on baking my cookies!
Negative: The pills didn't arrive in the time expected, but we were assured a new mailing system by whoever answers the American emails. I think he/she might answer Canadian ones as well because our sister in law in Canada recieved a similar email.
In good terms, we have been getting our packages quicker than expected in previous orders.Our last order was for 3 packages 2 weeks ago and they came last Wednesday.
Kudos to Finitro!
Although the advertisers have toned down their claims considerably what remains is still tosh, unsupportable by any evidence whatsoever. Ineresting that some testimonials are now appearing here but these companies try hard to dominate the web so that critical voices are lost.
ReplyDeleteFrank, be told, your wife gets no benefit from this crap other than as a very expensive placebo. Assuming you are not someone from finitro of course.
I think it is disgusting that any company can advertise on the internet claiming to cure such terrible disease as Rheumatoid Arthritis. The company should not be allowed to advertise, and con vulnerable people that have the illness!!!
ReplyDeletesame claim could be made on any other pill.. xanax, zoloft .... different pills work for different people. finitro is not based on an english speaking company so they made improvements to their claims.
ReplyDeleteIt is totally useless. Dont even think of wsting your money!
ReplyDeleteI ordered moore then 3 month ago and payed moore then 2 month ago but no product. Even hard to reach them. Whar can i do
ReplyDeleteI ordered Finitro Plus, the one bottle first, and more to come later. I tried the first bottle, and decided their claims it was a "Cure" to be grossly untrue. There was a postal strike in Canada last year, and I tried to stop the subsequent orders, but after the strike they came. I tried to contact the company to stop the shipments to no avail. Now, they are threatening me if I do not pay. Any ideas how to deal with these snake oil salesman?
ReplyDeletedon't pay, tell them they can pick up their rubbish, don't fall for collection agency calls, tell them the same
DeleteHello, my name is Bruna, well I tried to buy finitro plus on the site, but was not efutuado payment because of some problem in the website. My mother asked me to buy because they are talking a lot about it in Brazil, but I do not understand how a website exists no number to contact?! so it can be fraud. Can anyone help me and tell me something about? Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI ordered these on line and received them 10 working days later. I am taking them only 1 week. I think I feel little less pain and hoping that the product will work. If you dont try how do you know. I will try anything rather that have two knee replacements which I have been informed I need. I am 57 years of age and feel just a little too young to have this done.
ReplyDeleteI will see how it goes. I ordered 3 months supply. I was taking glocosomine, codliver oil and paracematol anyways so this product contains these ingredients plus more i.e. omega 3 etc. You would pay the same amount in the chemist for the above anyway so I dont see that this product is any more expensive than the products sold in the local chemists.
Regards
Hopefull !!!!!
You could be working for the same aholes.
Deleteemail address for Ireland is:
ReplyDeletecustomerservice-ir@finitro.com
They are very responsive and will help you with any question you might have about their product.They helped me with my queries immediately.But by email only. I do not have phone number.
Regards
Hopefull!!!!!
you have me worried now if i should get on to my credit card company and let them know if there is a scam.
ReplyDeleteAnyone with pain will try anything.
I will tune in if i ever get the order and get to try the product.
concerned ireland.
further to my earlier concern, i got the two boxes of pills and the cream the morning i was about to contact my bank. i am about to try the product and will let you know how i get on. i am also taking omega 3,6,9 so every little helps. will keep you posted.
ReplyDeleteI am not an employee of Finitro. I am a 50 yr old woman who has osteoarthritis and needs a knee replacement. Because of my age i was told to learn to manage the pain as i am too young for the op. I had laser surgery on my knee and injections to rebuild the cartlidge to no avail. i tried finitro and am on it since july this year. since then i do not take any painkillers and am back exercising. Is this a coincidence?
ReplyDeleteIf this is a scam why do the govt let them get away with this playing with peoples life If i was sellin drugs on line i would be i jail very quick rodger
ReplyDeleteI ordered Finitro Forte Plus sometimes in October 2012, having read the email address which says: customerservice-nz@finitro.com. OK I said the Company is here in New Zealand and that wont take more than a week to deliver. After 14 days I emailed them to find out whats happening to my order. They said it will be there within 21 - 30 days. I send more email to verify what is the hold up, they then told me it's coming from the Netherlands. My suspicions skyrocketed at that point. Its now 62 days since my order was placed I have not received anything. I have asked for a refund and they said it will take 21 days to issue the refund. Has someone got the same story.
ReplyDeleteNever trust a website which doesn't have a valid contact phone number and verifiable address. It's as simple as that!!
ReplyDeleteRe Finitro - have a look at "Evidence for the efficacy of complementary and alternative medicines in the management of rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review
ReplyDeleteGary J. Macfarlane1, Ashraf El-Metwally1, Vijitha De Silva1,2, Edzard Ernst3,
Gillian L. Dowds1 and Robert J. Moots4 on behalf of the Arthritis Research UK
Working Group on Complementary and Alternative Medicines"
It seem sthat collagen II actually works in reducing the effects of rheumatoid arthritis and (hopefully) osteoarthritis. I have yet to believe it repairs cartilage or actually CURES arthritis but I can certainly believe that it has substantial beneficial effects. In vitro engineering of cartilage. Julie Glowacki, PhD
Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and Skeletal Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
It would be great to get a larger sample fo people who have tried Finitro and see what thei results have been.
I have looked at Macfarlane's paper. I can only conclude that you haven't. It looks at CAM, not Finitro, and concludes no benefit. Re your second reference, I can only conlude that if you think this is evidence for efficacy in RA, then you don't know what "in vitro" means.
DeleteI am in Australia and this is an email response from Finitro that I quickly received re my concerns on the product. "Thanks for your email. There's no uniform international study to Finitro Forte Plus, but our components have been studied thoroughly. I've collected the most important studies for you concerning collagen type II, one
ReplyDeleteof our most important components. These are all independent studies.
* Bagchi et al., "Effects of orally administered undenaturated type II chicken collagen against arthritic inflammation pathologies: a mechanistic exploration." Int. J. Clinical Pharmacology Research 2002; 22(3-4): 101-10.
* Crowley, David et al. "Safety and efficacy of undenaturated type II collagen in the treatment of osteoarthritis of the knee: a clinical trial." International J of Medical Science. 2009; 6(6): 312-321.
* Trentham, David E. et al. "Effects of oral administration of type II collagen on rheumatoid arthritis." Science. 1993; vol. 261.
The laboratory is based in Belgium and complies to the standards of both the ISO number and the GMP (Good Manufactured Products) label. Finitro itself is a Dutch company. It has been approved within the European Union and is about to be approved by the FDA, the American food authority.
With kind regards,
Customerservice Finitro
Comments please!
The references provided:
DeleteBagchi et all. A very small (5 patients) unblinded, no placebo, no controls. Utterly worthless.
Crrowley, again no control group, no placebo, worthless.
Trentham, positive, but cherry picked. A multicenter trial showed no reliable benefit
The lab may well attain the standards required for approval, but that does not constitute approval of the product.
I placed and paid for my 2nd order of Finitro for 3 months supply on January 9, it is now February 10 and still no sign of delivery.
DeleteAm I sucked in?.................
Anonymous
Re the above, these were the questions I sent to Finitro. "You give no information re independent internationally or australian testing and evaluation of this product. Does it exist?
ReplyDeleteYou indicate the product comes from an ISO 22000 accredited european laboratory. Who and where and has the product itself been passed as safe and proven and beneficial results for oestio arthritis
well, im helped of these pills, yet thinking twice to continue for now, thanxs your supersticious minds, I will try something else ,all natural food healing instead, it seems like it works real good
ReplyDeletesaw it on face book, as in constant pain was interrested great to read sites like this will save my money and trust my Dr and hospital
ReplyDelete