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Consumer Fraud and the Elderly - Hearing Before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation on October 22, 1984

NCJ Number
97592
Date Published
1984
Length
72 pages
Annotation
A transcript is provided of a hearing held to address fraud practiced on elderly citizens in Oregon and throughout the country.
Abstract
Dave Frohnmayer, Attorney General for the State of Ore., emphasizes the need for consumer education as a means of preventing fraud and reports on the formation of a new study and task force related to the law and the elderly. Bill Gordon, a representative of the Gray Panthers, explains some of the reasons that the elderly are particularly vulnerable to consumer fraud and discusses quackery as it relates to the elderly. Patricia Rohlf of Central Point, Oregon, recounts her own experiences with medical fraud and highlights the unethical behavior of health food store clerks who promise instant remedies for numerous disorders. Benjamin Wilson, a surgery resident, urges the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to start enforcing the fraud laws involving food supplements and suggests that the FDA, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Postal Service, and the Justice Department adopt an aggressive position against health quackery. Dr. Thomas Reardon, President of the Oregon Medical Association, explains that most health fraud is associated with the diseases which are most frustrating to medicine, including cancer, arthritis, and arteriosclerosis. Bernard Miller, President of the Portland Better Business Bureau, highlights home repair frauds and investment frauds directed at the elderly. Finally, Carol Crawford, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC, discusses her organization's activities to combat fraudulent or deceptive food, drug, and health care claims affecting older persons.