Secretary for Food and Health Ko Wing-man was asked on Thursday what the authorities will do about beauty parlors posing as medical facilities and if there are any plans to prevent such scams from happening again. Ko replied by first urging local citizens to consult with or seek assistance from registered healthcare professionals if they fall ill. Then he emphasized the Department of Health is very stringent in monitoring advertisements on the market to pick up whether there will be any elements involving non-registered personnel posing as healthcare workers. Also, it will consider whether the evidence collected will be sufficient for police to prosecute the people involved, he added.

It is now widely known that healthcare scams have been on the rise around the world with the expansion of the internet, especially with the increasingly easy access to the World Wide Web on mobile devices such as smartphones. People are constantly bombarded by all kinds of ads for "new technologies" and "gadgets", which often promise medical "wonders" in addition to non-prescription "drugs" and supplements as well as "specialized clinics" with fantastic claims. All such services and products capitalize on the unprecedented spread of health awareness to all corners of the society but very few, if any, can pass scientific scrutiny.

Granted, not all such claims qualify as scams, but many have proved grossly exaggerated or even bogus despite professional and/or expert endorsements. The situation is so bad that many people are desperate for help, particularly in telling fake claims from genuine ones. This is where relevant authorities are obligated to step in with easy-to-understand and reliable information. These will answer the most common questions regarding the protection of public interests in addition to effective measures to rid the consumer market of fraudsters and scammers. At the very least, someone should tell the public that if something sounds too good to be true then it usually is.

For the average consumer, the easiest way to avoid becoming a victim is not to believe any healthcare ad that promises some kind of medical wonder; and always investigate anything suspicious with online searches. Don't click the "paid advertisements" on top of each page and look for the word "complaint" instead, because many, if not most, product reviews are "paid" and therefore untrustworthy.

(HK Edition 05/06/2016 page10)