The following links are from the American Medical Association's (AMA) Code of Medical Ethics:
- Opinion 8.063 - Sale of Health-Related Products From Physicians' Offices
and
- Opinion 8.06 - Prescribing and Dispensing Drugs and Devices
Here are a couple quotes from the Code of Medical Ethics:
"In-office sale of health-related products by physicians presents a financial conflict of interest, risks placing undue pressure on the patient, and threatens to erode patient trust and undermine the primary obligation of physicians to serve the interests of their patients before their own."
"Physicians may not accept any kind of payment or compensation from a drug company or device manufacturer for prescribing its products."
"Physicians should not urge patients to fill prescriptions from an establishment which has entered into a business or other preferential arrangement with the physician with respect to the filling of the physician’s prescriptions."
Doctors who choose to peddle USANA products to their patients break the Code of Medical Ethics. Because these doctors choose to put the interest of their personal business before the patient's own medical interest, it ruins the trust between the patient and the doctor. This becomes even a bigger violation of ethics when the doctor recruits their patients as distributors into their downline. It is all out of the financial interest of the doctor and not the interest of the patient.
How do doctors that sell USANA products to their patients keep their medical license?
Unless the doctor's patients file a complaint within their state, the practice of peddling will continue. Personally, if I go to a doctor for something and their recommended treatment is to purchase a specific brand of vitamins that the doctor is a distributor for, I would never go back to that doctor again. Would you? Most people would not go through the enormous hassle of filing a complaint. So the doctors peddling their own product never get in trouble. Ethical doctors do not place their own personal financial gain ahead of their patient's health.
Is there a way doctors can prescribe USANA products in an ethical manner?
Doctor's who want to recommend USANA product can do so ethically. This ethical option is for the doctor not to become a distributor, and to simply tell their patient to go to USANA's website and order the recommended product directly from USANA. By doing this, it removes the "conflict of interest" out of the equation. By doing this, it removes the "undue pressure" that would be placed on the patient. There are ethical ways for doctors to recommend USANA product, but the doctor cannot be financially connected, otherwise their would be a conflict of interest and violate the code of ethics.
I am from the medical world, I do not agree. Most doctors I trained with, no little of health. I have five degrees, written three books and have tested out Usana and several more so called health giving products. Yet Usana came out on top. As for the pyramid scheme, well, I don't know a business that isn't unless you work alone.
ReplyDeleteFredrick,
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you trained amongst doctors who know little about health. I would like to know What school trained so poorly so I don't ever receive medical care from any doctor who attended that school?
Also, what don't you agree with? This article was about doctors peddling USANA vitamins. Do you not agree with "Medical Code of Ethics"?
How did you determine that USANA came out on top versus other health products that you personally have tested?
My doctor recently recommended that I take a daily multivitamin. I was wary at first and asked if he had any financial relationship with the manufacturer he was recommending. He said no and that the vitamins are available in retail stores. I asked him what he thought about doctors who have sign up as distributors in MLM companies and sell the vitamins to the patients. He told me that is called peddling and violates their Code of Ethics.
He recommended I take Rainbow Light® Just Once® multivitamin. It's $21 for a 60 day supply, which I believe is still too much to pay for vitamins. But that still doesn't rack up to the exorbitant price of USANA's "Essentials" that distributors pay $42.50 for only a 28 day supply.
USANA distributors pay over 4 times more for their multivitamin than I would pay for the Just Once® multivitamin. The ONLY reasons USANA's vitamins are so overly priced is to 1) fund their elaborate pyramid scheme and 2) fund their stock buyback program in which the executives exercise their stock options and sell back to the company. It's all nothing more than a money transfer system which relies on defrauding people from their hard earned money.
It seems that even after you received five degrees you still don't understand how businesses work. Saying you don't know of a business that isn't a pyramid scheme (unless they work alone) shows your lack of understanding of what a pyramid scheme is in the first place. Businesses have a hierarchy of employees that all have different tasks to focus on so that the business can function. Businesses don't have an endless number of levels in which each level must pay a fee for the right to receive commissions, and where the money each level pays actually funds the commission for the levels higher up. That's a pyramid scheme, whether there is a product involved or not.
My personal experience with Usana is because of health issues, I have a degenerated neck disc and the only option is surgery which I declined. Living in constant pain , having problems with what people call minor problems like headaches, indigestion,IBS, brain fog etc etc is extremely depressing. Usana gave me my life back and much much more, I'm 10 years healthier and I do not suffer from the pain anymore.
DeleteOh shut up angelina.. watchdog will NOT believe you.
DeleteHeck, watchdog so cheap to even pay $21 for 60 day vitamins! That's like 0.35 cents per day. A drug which has side effects cost double the 21 bucks for like 7 days. So you tell me what she thinks about health. She doesn't believe in health.
For someone who cheaps out 35 cents a day on something that can even slightly help them nutritionally doesn't qualify them to tell you about supplement or vitamin or health or nutrition. That's why the doctor told her to take vitamins because doggie is lacking nutrition in her body to stay healthy!!!!
jesus mother of god.. now the truth comes out.
Under www multivitaminguide org,
Rainbow Light® Just Once is rank 26th.. which is better than the cheap centrum.. Number 2 is Douglas Labs which is very expensive (not mlm)..just like usana and extendlife which are top 3.
Unfortunately, it is sad that you are posting articles when not fully informed. "Pyramid Schemes" are illegal. Pyramid Schemes do not offer "tangible products". USANA is a publicly traded company on NASDAQ. ALL Corporate, government, etc. are a "pyramid" structure...not scheme however. In Corporate America, the top of the pyramid is the president, the bottom are the "lowest employees". Every business represents a "pyramid" however. So it appears to me that you do not have a clear understanding of what a "Pyramid Scheme" is. Just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, it is my understanding that USANA Supplements are not only listed in the Physician's Desk Reference book for Pharmaceutical drugs but are the ONLY supplement in there, since 1996. I honestly believe that you may want to do some more research.
With best regards to your health.
The last anonymous poster has been misinformed on several accounts.
ReplyDeleteMany Pyramid Schemes today offer tangible products. Just because a product exists does not excuse the method involved to recruit an endless number of victims into a scheme where it is mathematically proven that no more than 10% of participants can make a profit. As far as calling the structure of corporate companies and government a "Pyramid" reveals your lack of understanding on what it takes to actually run a business or organization. Government officials and corporate employees each have their own duties to fulfill in order to be successful. Each and every one of a corporate employee is paid at least minimum wage, which is more than 99.9% of all USANA participants have ever made.
Furthermore, USANA is NOT the only company with supplements listed INCORRECTLY in the Physicians Desk Reference for Drugs. Instead of properly placing their food supplements in the PDR for Supplements & Herbs, USANA simply told Thomson Healthcare to list their supplements in the book for drugs. There was no special requirement to be listed there. I know this because I talked to Thompson Healthcare several years ago when I pointed out USANA was claiming the PDR endorsed USANA products, which USANA later had to remove from their marketing material.
So in you truly want to be informed regarding the PDR listings, I suggest you contact the authors directly as I once had and get the facts instead of hearing it from your upline who are only trying to recruit new members into the USANA pyramid scheme.
The ethically way is to suggest USANA to my patients. Its there option if they want to buy or not.
ReplyDeleteWell.....I am someone who is not well with many health problems...I have read many reviews on the Usana vitamins themselves..mostly all good....Let me tell you I have taken all types of name brand vitamins......alot that were expensive....Most people that are interested in these vitamins are people that need them for health reasons...Sadly I am not interested in Pyramids,distributers,or the like....Maybe I should be.....All I want to know is if the vitamins are pure and are safe to take....Thank You if you are able to help.....
ReplyDeleteI feel USANA watchdog was just presenting a natural opinion, nothing to do with good/bad of products and/or the way of distribution. Person with five degrees and People are strong supporters of USANA here over-reacted.
ReplyDeleteI am just expressing my own opinion here whether you agree or not. I am taking USANA now but I found a lot of USANA distributors have been brained washed. not sure if this is because of conflict of interest which means they can't accept anyone doesn't boast about USANA and/or they can't face that after taking USANA products for number of years/spent tones of money in fact the products may not be as good as what they thought. hehe.....
This blog is ridiculous. Why don't you spend your time going after the pharmaceutical DRUG industry instead of a company selling health supplements? Reviews of USANA products seem mostly positive. If people didn't like the product, why is the company continuing to grow each year? Nobody is forcing anyone to become a distributor, they do so upon as a result of their own free will. If you suck as a distributor... well, then you should probably learn marketing skills, or get a real job because maybe being in business isn't for you. That's what this is really about. The majority of distributors "fail" because they quit or don't fully understand how to do the marketing piece.
ReplyDeleteKeep hating though. Reading your whiny blog (along with other sites I've researched) makes me want to become a USANA distributor and do my part to destroy the "stigma" associated with MLMs. Seems like it'd be a fun challenge. I will test out the supplements, see if I like them, get them vetted by my doctor colleagues, and then make my final decision.
I like how so many pro-USANA members think I should spend my time going after other companies instead of their beloved USANA. Look, USANA products get good reviews because the majority of those taking the supplement are USANA sales people. Of course they are going to give a good review because it is part of their marketing strategy since they now have a financial incentive to do so. Nobody forces anyone to become a distributor, but those that do become a distributor did so based on false and misleading information provided by USANA and other existing distributors. Most people (about 99%) do not make a profit because of the pyramid scheme compensation plan. The overpriced products are rarely sold to people outside the network of distributors. So the primary buyer is the distributor, which is primarily purchased in order to participate in the business venture. They are forced to purchase overpriced product.
DeleteBecome a distributor. After 3 years when you haven't made a profit, come back on here and tell your story. I have hundreds of emails from people who have lost money after spending a lot of time and money trying to be successful. Everyone ends up coming to the realization that they aren't going to make a dime no matter how hard they try. Don't blame yourself though, you were scammed.
I'm a medical student and have been sold a couple of bottles of USANA essentials and a membership after a week of taking the supplements. Granted, I haven't slept in class all week even on a 4-hour-a-day sleep schedule and I still feel great (maybe it's the placebo but hey I like them so far), BUT my very nature as someone part of the medical profession will inhibit me from directly selling the items. Maybe I'd show it to anyone who asks what I'm taking. But I wouldn't sell it. I value my patient's trust in the knowledge that I am giving them the appropriate products rather than being motivated to get money from them.
ReplyDeleteWhy were you sleeping in class in the first place? I hope you tell your patients that you slept in class when you were suppose to be learning.
DeleteTry having exams every other day, and class from 8 am to 5 pm straight with a lunch break, with additional 3-hour travel time back and forth from home, no exaggerating. But you totally missed the point of the argument - it's supposed to support the idea that you don't sell products to patients - it's just plain unethical. Try not to antagonize every single person who actually comments on this blog, when this person is actually trying to support you. Geez.
DeleteI'm glad you feel it is unethical for doctors to sell their vitamins to their patients. Since you are a medical student, how about telling us which ingredient in the USANA vitamins that was directly responsible for your ability to stay awake?
DeleteB-vitamins, found in most anti-stress formulas, and most probably that shred of cinnamon too, which is sort of an anti-oxidant/stimulant.
Deleteyou could just recommend those supplements to your patients and refer them to whoever sold you those products if selling as a med professional is the issue. You'd be letting those people know that you're taking something that seems to be working for you, without earning from it or pressuring them since they can check with your supplier and decide if they want to try it or not. You'd just be helping them become aware of the products, and you can refer them to your distributor and let them decide from their if they would like to give the products a whirl.
DeleteYou don't earn from the recommendation but you do get to help others find an option to consider for their health needs or concerns. That's if you do like the products, after all, which I'm assuming you do, from what you've said so far.
Personally, I don't sell the products, but my family and I have been using the products ever since my uncle's blood pressure and blood sugar levels improved a few months after taking the essentials and a bunch of other recommended Usana products, and we've tried a lot of other brands as well.
When I took the Multivits and mineral pairs, I also noticed that I didn't fall asleep during long work days anymore, and that I no longer wake up from bed feeling tired or drowsy, even though I normally have just 3-4 hours of rest on a weekday. So congrats on finding out about Usana and taking the products!
We're pretty happy with the supplements we're taking now, but we're not really into selling. So, we just refer friends and other people who we think might like the products to our supplier, and let them talk things over.
I hope this helps with your concern a bit. Cheers.
In response to "B-vitamins, found in most anti-stress formulas, and most probably that shred of cinnamon too, which is sort of an anti-oxidant/stimulant."
DeleteUSANA's Essentials have a total of 5600 mcg of vitamin B in their 28 day bottle supply.
Compare this to Nature's Made Sublingual Vitamin B12 1000mcg product. Walgreens sells it retail for $6.99. The bottle contains a total of 50,000 mcg of the vitamin. If you only want 5600 mcg from this bottle to be equal to USANA, it would translate to a retail cost of 78 cents.
What makes USANA's vitamin B12 so special that it couldn't be obtained elsewhere for a much cheaper price? If USANA's products were so unique and magical, what differentiates USANA from most all other brands? What is their secret ingredient? You know most of the raw ingredients comes from the same suppliers in China. Where is the magic? Why should someone pay an exorbitant price for a food supplement?
You know I could go through all of USANA's Essentials ingredients and show that it is much cheaper to buy each ingredient separately, mix in the matching dosages to equal USANA's, do so at their full retail price and still be much cheaper than USANA's autoship/auto-order associate price.
Well, my family's taken a lot of other cheaper brands in the past, even generic multivits prescribed by our doctor, but it didn't really seem to have any effect other than darkening the color of Urine.
DeleteThe first thing I noticed was how it affected my sleep, as mentioned in my previous post. I don't fall asleep or feel as drowsy during my 12-hour shifts and I don't wake up feeling tired anymore. As for my brother, who's packed on quite a few pounds over the years, suddenly shed around 10 pounds in 2 months, without any change to his diet or lifestyle. He and I were long time users of another brand readily available in pharmacy stores, but we were surprised at the effects.
The difference would have to be the absorption rate of Usana, according to our supplier-friend. According to him, several other vitamin brands have different absorption rates, depending on the company's standards for quality, which would be why some products have "no approved therapeutic claims" on the bottle. Usana, however, has had their products checked by FDA, BFAD, TGA, NSF and were given approval to remove that on their labels. I've heard my friend mention that a lot of times to my other friends when they ask about the products. I wouldn't know the nitty-gritty of how they made their products highly absorbable, but his explanation makes sense, considering the effects their products have had in my family, also considering the number of other multivitamin supplements we've tried in the past with little or no noticeable effect on health improvement.
Dude, Doctors all sell meds anyways. They get a frickin cut from any meds they prescribe. Some even prescribe stuff you don't really need just to get an extra buck out of you. My doctor-friend and even my cousin who's in the med field both admit it. And they're in two different countries right now. What's worse is most meds will mess your liver or give you a new problem, in exchange for a "Chance" to cure what you got. I don't trust doctors who deny they earn from their prescriptions, since they're just covering it up with fancy words.
ReplyDeleteSo what you are admitting is your doctor-friend and cousin are unethical doctors who are breaking the medical code of ethics by peddling products by receiving kickbacks. Just because they are lousy doctors doesn't mean the rest of the world's doctors are.
DeleteWhat I'm saying is all doctors earn a cut from whatever they prescribe. I have yet to meet a doc who outright says they don't earn from it whenever I ask how much they make from prescribing meds. Whether they're good or bad doctors doesn't mayter. It's already part of the system. Any doctor earns a commission from prescribing meds. Unethical doctors will prescribe more stuff than you ever need. "Ethical" ones will just prescribe/SELL you just what they think you do need.
DeleteThey admit to the part where you get a cut outta prescribing stuff. Not them prescribing stuff you don't need. Got that info from other patients who consulted other doctors aside from theirs for a second opinion on their meds.
DeleteJust type "doctors commissions kickbacks prescriptions" on google and you'll see that how cozy in bed doctors are with drug companies. Code of ethics? Yeah right. They all sell. it's just that they call it prescribing and people don't realize these docs make an extra buck from telling you to buy meds, without telling you they're earning from it aside from consulting them.
DeleteSeems like you can't answer when logic's slappin your face, bruh.
DeleteIf you want those meds not to mess on your liver, you just need to have a healthy lifestyle. Go ahead with supplementation if needed.
DeleteBut if you're sick, you can't just do enough with supplementation alone. These medicines are created to target a specific illness -- but you have the right to know the side-effects and whatnot, and to demand a milder cure. You pay them for that.
You know what? USANA Watch Dog might be paid by USANA to positively strengthen the reviews of its products' users. I'm not an angry user USANA Watch Dog. Keep going! I'm a very timid person but I can't help sharing the effect of the product to my friends. I prioritize sharing to those in need of supplement. I don't care about the pyramid scheme you are talking about. I'm sharing the product for supplement in one week for them. If I have just known USANA in 2010, maybe my father is still alive! My mother is lucky, she's taking it since last 2 months and recovering. I just join the Pyramid scheme to get discount. I forced my family to take but I just share with my friends
ReplyDeleteYou get what you pay for, yeah i can say USANA is a bit expensive with their products but the quality is what counts, ill rather be healthy and spend a but more money than just spend them on vitams that wont do anything to me, you should watch the review videos and how they compare them to other brands, i know usnaa consumers that are happy with what they bought, not only distributors say that usana products work,
ReplyDeleteOf the several dozen Ex-USANA Preferred Customers I have contacted, every one of them said they no longer purchase the vitamins because they are too expensive.
DeleteWhy are the expensive? To fund the pyramid scheme that pays hundreds of millions of dollars to less than 3000 distributors at the top of the pyramid. About 45% of the price one pays for their product goes toward this fund. Most of the funding comes from distributor's initial purchase to activate their business centers as $1200 professional packs rip into their wallets. Over 80% of distributors drop out within their first year. It is an endless churning of new victims of distributors who are led to believe they will become rich selling the product.
The company is a fraud and should be shut down by the FTC. All Gold Directors and above should be held accountable for perpetrating a massive pyramid scheme.
Did I mention the product is overpriced?.....
How about this, tell us what happened to all of USANA's customers? They have had over 2 million distributors and close to about 1 million preferred customers. Yet, they only have a couple hundred thousand purchase any product last quarter. Where did 90% of their customers go? Why would they stop purchasing the product if the product is as good as you claim?
I hate hearing when people say that they do not want to use USANA anymore because it is expensive, however, they all go out and buy the most expensive house and/or the most expensive car to show off to everyone the wealth they have.
ReplyDeleteHahaha I prefer to pay more money for my vitamins because that goes to my body. Do you do not spend money for the best gas for your car, or do you just go out and buy gasoline for your vehicle that could even have been diluted with whatever...but, because it is cheaper you go out and buy it anyway? I think not. I believe that my health is more important and does not have a price and in the end it does not matter how many expensive things you have if you do not have your health. Also, have you ever heard of the phrase "you get what you pay for", it goes for vitamins as well.
My dear USANA Watch Dog go straight to the real thing and stop this non sense. If I do not take USANA products at this time I was already dead thanks to what the cheap vitamins do to me as they are all synthetic and with GMO and have products that we do not even know what they put there only because they want to sell. If you love yourself enough you do not care about the money you care about yourself and about getting a better quality of life because of it. And for all the people that take USANA one time and they left was maybe because they were not doing the business properly and USANA take them out.
Most people do not go out and buy the most expensive house or car to show off to everyone the wealth they want everyone to believe they have. People who do not want to use USANA because of the overpriced product aren't stupid. 45% of the price distributors pay for the product is used to fund the pyramid scheme. So for every $100 you spend in USANA, $45 goes toward paying commissions and bonuses. That sounds remarkable until you learn that 99% of USANA distributors make no profit! That means 45% of the price goes toward enriching a few thousand distributors while a couple million lose money. Are you proud to be part of a company like this???
DeleteUSANA's products do not contain any magically substance (except for maybe the placebo) that cannot be found in many other affordable vitamin products. If USANA had a magical formula, then other manufacturers would simply copy it. If USANA's products did all the things their distributors claim it did, then USANA would be in every newspaper in the world. Truth is, nobody has heard of USANA.
BTW, I only buy the cheapest gas.. I've taken the car from 50 miles to 208,000 miles... And it's still running just fine.
Usana watchdog you are too focusing on the price not on the quality.. try to visit the manufacturing how it is done at Salt Lake City Utah then its for you to find out why Usana is the best and try it for yourself. If Usana isn't the best for you then stop taking it. Just that easy..
ReplyDeleteI can appreciate the understanding and awareness Usana watchdog brings to the media and culture in general. It's true there's a lot of fraud amongst professional as I have personally encountered and have been defrauded by various so-called educated workers. As much as I value education, and when you divorce ethics or morality from business, education, culture, and everyday living, you have a mess and all kinds of people violating personal dignity, and in the name of science, business or whatever. Just flip the news on for a bit and confirmation will be heard; you ever wonder how people are surprised at gross injustice? Well, it's a simple response to of a false hope we tend to have in which we expect someone else to give us what we so desperately want: a change of heart and the virtue attached to that. Freedom/peace? Freedom and peace begins in your heart; you be the change you wish to see in others. You shall be blessed for your efforts.
ReplyDeleteWe live greed-driven society that stomps on their neighbors and expect to be have with their ill-choices, which have psychological and moral implication and the fruit of depression or sadness of false expectations, personified.
Defaming or patronizing sinful activities is a matter of conscience. Can we understand conscience if it is ill-formed? Mind you, our gut tells us what's right or wrong and we should hold fast to right reason in action, and then we can make a better choice to support the good, reject what is opposed to the dignity of the individual or society or community or your family, and yourself, so that we cultivate grace and change by good example.
As a spiritual social worker, I have discovered in counselling that one can find a solution to ills when it's placed into a new perspective; that is, our selfish ambitions and misdirected wills can be redirected to a positive and faithful guidance which facilitates change in peoples lives. This requires understanding. There's a website that can help; Guide to psychology is a self-help guide that is simple and straightforward in its approach, without commercial interest of any kind. I know doctor Ramon L. Richmond personally as he has helped me in the mission to change a life one soul at a time.
Life's short, live it virtuously, for God will bless that.
Blessings!
Too lazy to read that philosophical stuff.. Can you condense it to 1 short paragraph. Yay or Nay to UsanaGay? That's it.. Don' play both sides.. just yay or nay to usanagay?
Delete