Nutrition Facts with Dr. Greger What’s on That Label?
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Mar 28, 2024 Exploring the misleading claims and lack of evidence behind brain supplement Previgin. Deceptive marketing practices and safety concerns of a supplement targeting aging Americans. Controversies surrounding Alzheimer's drug treatments and FDA approval process. Unreliable labeling practices in the supplement industry. Legal challenges faced by researchers studying supplements and promoting nutrition-based health stories.
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Prevagen's Misleading Clinical Claims
- Prevagen claimed landmark trial benefits but the original study showed no improvement on nine cognitive tasks.
- The company later p-hacked subgroups and settled with the FTC yet still markets the product with a disclaimer.
The Perils Of Post-Hoc Subgroup Fishing
- Post-hoc subgroup analyses (p-hacking) massively increase false positive likelihood and can produce misleading 'effects'.
- The chance of finding at least one false positive after extensive slicing was estimated at 80%.
Biological Implausibility And Safety Signals
- A product rapidly digested by stomach enzymes is unlikely to exert the claimed neurological effects.
- Despite this, Prevagen still reported thousands of adverse events and had cited manufacturing violations.