As a follow up to the Elder Abuse blog, I was reading more about the safety risk of older adults. Did you know that a government study found that most victims of health care fraud are over age 65?   Quackery has been around for centuries. We have all grown up with Grandma’s remedies but today with TV, magazines, mail, web sites, and word of mouth there are more and more ways to be sold unproven remedies and “miracle cures.” This puts our elderly at risk! The older adult is frequently targeted for such scams and they are often unaware that the unproven remedies may cause harm. Not only do they waste their money, but it can prevent them from receiving the medical treatment that they may need.

How can they protect themselves?

• Get the Facts
• Be cautious
• Don’t believe everything they hear
• Take time
• Ask questions
• Request information
• Talk with their health care providers.

If you would like more information on how to protect yourself or how to check a product, you can contact:

Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)
4200 Wilson Boulevard
8th Floor
Arlington, VA 22203
Check the telephone book for the number of your local chapter.
www.bbb.org

U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville, MD 20857-0001
Phone: 1-888-INFO-FDA (1-888-463-6332—toll-free)
www.fda.gov

Quackwatch, Inc.
Quackwatch, Inc, is a nonprofit corporation making information available to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies.
www.quackwatch.org

For more information on health and aging -
Visit NIHSeniorHealth.gov (www.nihseniorhealth.gov), a senior-friendly website from the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine. The simple-to-use website features popular health topics for older adults. It has large type and a "talking" function that reads the text out loud.

Watch for my next blog --  “ Crime and the Elderly”