Where to Complain or Seek Help

©2003 Stephen Barrett, M.D.

Problem	Agencies to Contact*
False advertising	FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection or regional office National Advertising Division, Council of Better Business Bureaus Editor or manager of media outlet where ad appeared
Product marketed with false or misleading claims**	National or regional FDA office FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (Internet products) State attorney general State health department Local Better Business Bureau Congressional representatives
Bogus mail-order promotion	Chief Postal Inspector, U.S. Postal Service Regional Postal Inspector State attorney general
Bogus product purchased with credit card	As soon as your credit care statement comes, ask the credit card company for instructions on how to get the charge reversed.
Dubious telemarketing	State attorney general FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection or regional office National Fraud Information Center web site or hotline
Improper treatment by licensed practitioner	Local or state professional society (if practitioner is a member) Local hospital (if practitioner is a staff member) State professional licensing board National Council Against Health Fraud Task Force on Victim Redress Quackwatch
Improper treatment by unlicensed individual	Local district attorney State attorney general National Council Against Health Fraud Task Force on Victim Redress
Advice needed about questionable product or service	National Council Against Health Fraud Local, state, or national professional or voluntary health groups
Medicare or Medicaid fraud	HHS Office of the Inspector General hotline Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field ofice
Internet-related consumer problem	Cybercop Consumer Broadcast Group eConsumer.gov (cross-border complaints) FDA Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Fraud Complaint Center Webguardian
Junk e-mail, including health- related scams and chain letters	FTC's e-mailbox Consumer Broadcast Group
Complaint, praise, or suggestion for legitimate company	PlanetFeedback

*Where more than one agency might be appropriate, contact all of them.
**Quackwatch would like to locate people who have purchased a homeopathic or product within the past year and concluded that the product did not work as represented on packaging or in any advertisement. Please contact us if you have had such an experience.

Where to Contact

• FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection, Washington, DC 20580. Tel. (202) 326-2222.
• National Advertising Division, Council of Better Business Bureaus, 845 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022. Tel. (212) 753-1358.
• FDA, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville, MD 20857. Tel. (301) 295-8024.
• FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, HFD-314, 7520 Standish Place, Rockville, MD 20855. Tel. (301) 827-8931. Email: otcfraud@cder.fda.gov
• Chief Postal Inspector, U.S. Postal Service, Washington, DC 20260. Tel. (202) 268-4267.
• Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20535.
• Internet Fraud Complaint Center
• National Council Against Health Fraud: 119 Foster Street, Peabody, MA 01960. Tel: (978) 532-9383
• National Fraud Information Center, P.O. Box 65868, Washington, DC 20035. Tel. (800) 876-7060.
• Office of the Inspector General (OIG) TIPS Hotline, P.O. Box 23489, Washington, DC 20026. Tel. (800) 447-8477
• Quackwatch, P.O. Box 1747, Allentown, PA 18105. Tel. (610) 437-1795.

For local or regional offices of federal agencies consult the telephone directory under U.S. Government.

Agencies in Other Countries

• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
• Advertising Standards Authority (United Kingdom)
• Other Countries

NBC-TV's Dateline Seeking Quackery Victims What's been your experience when seeking medical/health information online? National newsmagazine DATELINE NBC would like to talk to you. If you have used the Internet to find medical/health information, or ordered a health product on-line, and feel you were led astray, DATELINE wants to know about it. Please e-mail Dateline's Consumer Alert staff or call (202) 2885-5100 for more information or to tell us your story. All information will be kept confidential unless you agree that NBC may use it.