Health Highlights: Feb. 8, 2017

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Maker of Memory Supplement Charged With Fraud

A company that sells a memory supplement based on a glowing jellyfish protein has been charged with fraud by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general.

Officials allege that Wisconsin-based Quincy Bioscience is falsely marketing Prevagen as a memory booster and falsely claiming the product can make its way into the brain, NBC News reported.

“The Federal Trade Commission and New York State Attorney General have charged the marketers of the dietary supplement Prevagen with making false and unsubstantiated claims that the product improves memory, provides cognitive benefits, and is clinically shown to work,” an FTC statement said.

“The extensive national advertising campaign for Prevagen, including TV spots on national broadcast and cable networks such as CNN, Fox News, and NBC, featured charts depicting rapid and dramatic improvement in memory for users of the product,” according to the statement.

The FTC said Quincy tried but failed to show that Prevagen, which sells for between $40 and $90 for a bottle, can benefit users, NBC News reported.

Quincy said Prevagen is safe and that it will fight the charges.

“We vehemently disagree with these allegations made by only two FTC commissioners. This case is another example of government overreach and regulators extinguishing innovation by imposing arbitrary new rules on small businesses like ours,” the company said in a statement, NBC News reported.

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