Distributors claiming a sugar pill can help people with HIV will be prosecuted and may face a jail sentence. Peter Pratt of the Health Ministry says it is extremely worrying that distributors had appeared to be advertising Ambrotose as being able to help people with HIV and other illnesses. "Anyone we find making the claims we will pursue for prosecution," he told NZPA. Pratt says it is not illegal to sell the sugar-based pill, but it breached the Medicine Act if false therapeutic claims were made. The New Zealand AIDS Foundation says it is "staggered" to hear there were more than 200 people selling the pills in New Zealand. The Foundation rejected a request last year to endorse and sell the pill, and to take part in a clinical trial.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 12th March 2003 - 12:00pm