Business ProfileforUtopia Wellness, Incorporated

In July 2020, BBB contacted Utopia Wellness, Incorporated to inquire about various advertising claims based on the Code of Advertising: Guidelines for Truth in Advertising from the Better Business Bureau. BBB requested the business substantiate their claims met the following standards:

1.0: Basic Principles of the Code
34.0: Claimed Results
30.0: Testimonials and Endorsements

To date, BBB did not receive a response from the business to substantiate the below questions:

1. Per the company's website, you offer in-house treatments and supplements for various medical conditions. Please provide substantiation to support the effectiveness of the various products and services listed on your website, as well as any potential adverse effects:

- Chelation Therapy
- Epigenetic Therapy
- High pH Therapy
- Alkaline Diet
- Hyperthermia - FAR Infrared
- Immunotherapy
- IV Vitamin C
- Mind Body Medicine
- Individual Counseling
- Group Therapy
- Touch For Health
- Oxygen Therapies
- Hyperbaric Oxygen
- IV Peroxide Therapy
- Nutraceuticals
- Nutritional Counseling
- Whole Body Detoxification
- Colon Therapy
- Juicing
- Organ Cleanse
- Lymphatic Massage
- Bio-Identical Hormones
- Colon Therapy
- Detoxification
- IV Vitamin Therapy
- Medical Weight Loss
- Mystery Illnesses
- Peroxide Therapy
- Sensitiv Imago
- Dementia Holistic Treatment Program
- VITAMIN THERAPY MENU (THE ROYAL FLUSH - Detoxifying; THE HANGOVER - Recovery; THE FATBURNER - Weightloss; FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH - Anti-Aging; IMMUNE BOOSTER - Immunity; ALL ABOUT THAT BASE - Alkalinity; Myer's Cocktail - Oldie But Goodie)

2. Please substantiate the following claims made on your company's website, and how the effectiveness of your services differs from licensed medical professionals who offer similar services:

"Eliminate TOXINS with chelation therapy."
"Chelation Therapy can be a safe and effective way of removing unwanted toxins and materials from your body. Our Chelation Therapy program is offered to patients suffering from a wide range of diseases and conditions including heart and vascular disease, diabetes, poor circulation, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, metal toxicity and more."

"When administered properly by a trained physician, Chelation Therapy is a safe and natural therapy. It has been used successfully for over 50 years. Metals are removed, plaque is dissolved throughout your entire circulatory system and blood flow is restored. It may reverse atherosclerosis, lower cholesterol levels and blood pressure, and help to prevent heart attacks and strokes! And yet, your cardiologist will never tell you about it!"
"Give your body the VITAMINS & MINERALS it needs
Intravenous Vitamin (IV) Therapy is a method of delivering a safe and healthy dose of natural vitamins and minerals directly into your circulatory system. At Utopia, the IV vitamin therapy program is designed to address all areas related to your disease, the origination of that disease, your nutritional status, and mental health. Because each person is unique, the program will be specifically tailored for you."

"Utopia Wellness offers several therapies that enhance the immune system and allow the body to heal naturally. One of these treatments is immune enhancing IV vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that feed a deprived immune system. This fuel allows the immune system to do what it was designed to do, repair & protect. Some of the vitamins and minerals will include: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Vitamin B-12, B-Complex Vitamin, Calcium, Amino Acids and Multi Minerals."

"BENEFITS OF INTRAVENOUS VITAMINS
Most efficient delivery of vital nutrients for maximum effect
Bypasses the digestive tract for 100% absorption
Immediate availability for cellular absorption
Safely delivers high doses not tolerated orally
Prevent illness, increase energy, and slow the effects of aging"

"The Medical Weight Loss Program at Utopia Wellness is designed to help you be the healthiest you've ever been, in the best body that you have ever had. Regardless of the amount of weight that you want to lose, our Certified Holistic Nutritionist will monitor and guide you throughout the process of reaching your goal!"
"Our medical weight loss program is different from the rest in that the focus is not on prescription drugs, calorie counting, and endless exercise. Our program is a natural, holistic and integrative approach that addresses the physical and emotional issues that have led you to this point. Our program ensures you lose weight and keep it off for life."
"Our medical weight loss program is different from the rest in that the focus is not on prescription drugs, calorie counting, and endless exercise. Our program is a natural, holistic and integrative approach that addresses the physical and emotional issues that have led you to this point. Our program ensures you lose weight and keep it off for life."
"Not only will you lose weight, our medical weight loss program will provide you with the necessary tools to assist you in reducing the risk of coronary artery disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes and have you feeling more energized and healthy. In many cases, consequentially harmful prescription medications have been reduced or even discontinued."
"As part of the program you will also receive an all-natural appetite suppressant, our multi-vitamins and metabolism boosting injections that assist in reducing stored fat and building lean muscle."

"At Utopia Wellness, we offer intravenous hydrogen peroxide because medical studies show it has many different actions. It is capable of killing considerable numbers of viruses, bacteria, fungi, yeast parasites and even some tumor cells. It can boost the immune system by improving the number and quality of various blood cells. It can also improve lung diseases, including asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It is able to improve circulation, improve heart function, and provide oxygen to the brain. It can relieve pain, quiet allergies, and destroy toxic environmental chemicals inside your body."

"IS PEROXIDE THERAPY RIGHT FOR ME?
At Utopia., we offer intravenous hydrogen peroxide because medical studies show it has many different actions. It is capable of killing considerable numbers of viruses, bacteria, fungi, yeast parasites and even some tumor cells. It can boost the immune system by improving the number and quality of various blood cells. It can also improve lung diseases, including asthma, emphysema and chronic bronchitis. It able to improve circulation, improve heart function, and provide oxygen to the brain. It can relieve pain, quiet allergies, and destroy toxic environmental chemicals inside your body. (AIDS / HIV; Arthritis; Athletic Injuries Of All Types; Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Candida /Fungal Infections; Cancer; Herpes And Other Venereal Diseases; Hepatitis; Circulatory Diseases; Cardiovascular Disease; Diabetes; Infected Wounds; Gangrene; Colds & Flu's)"

"With the Sensitiv Imago, we can scan the body with a high level of accuracy and find disease processes already at play as well as the level of distortion (Homeostasis Breakdown) of systems, organs, tissues and cells. With this information we can start identifying one or more existing disease processes. This gives us the option to correct the illness and support the human body allowing it to return to its natural state of Homeostasis (good health and internal equilibrium)."

"Our Sensitiv Imago's software and database program allows us to obtain a rapid diagnosis and identify the cause-effect connections of pathological processes in the body. The Sensitiv Imago's computerized data analysis is capable of: making predictions regarding the probable development of disease(s) the patient may experience within the next 1-5 years, determining internal microbial activity (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites) and their localization, detecting allergens and contaminants, determining the degree of current biochemical Homeostasis within the body, assisting the clinician in choosing the most effective medications and natural additives and creating an effective dietary regime to assist healing and health maintenance."

3. Please substantiate the various testimonies listed on your website, including the below testimony found under the Mystery Illness" section of your website:

"Utopia Wellness offers several therapies which enhance the immune system, eliminate toxins and allow the body to heal naturally. One of these treatments is immune enhancing IV vitamins, minerals and antioxidants which feed a deprived immune system. This fuel allows the immune system to do what it was designed to do, repair & protect. Here is what one of our patients had to say about her experience:
"After interviewing me, accompanied by my husband, and observing various test results which I had brought with us, Dr. Garcia acknowledged that I had multiple health deficiencies, which he sincerely felt could be improved. He began by putting me on an intense regime of vitamin therapy in order to build up my health system, which had been so badly jeopardized. After witnessing more than noticeable improvement in my general health condition, the doctor began treating me for specific health problems. I had trouble gaining weight and keeping it on. I was experiencing extreme nausea and indigestion, severe, chronic constipation (often not defecating for weeks, even after using harsh cathartics to no avail!) I was having severe heart palpitations, only to be told by the appropriate specialists that there was nothing in my EKG's and other tests that indicated that anything was wrong. "It was probably something involving an immune deficiency problem" and that being the case, he "knew nothing about this type of problem and he could be of no help. In summary, Dr. Garcia recommended continued high dosage vitamin therapy, accompanied by DMSO therapy, which corrected my balance problems to a substantial degree. My lack of ability to gain weight has been much improved by Dr. Garcia's suggestion to utilize colon therapy, as has been my problem with constipation."

"I was always turned away and told: "You have some sort of auto-immune deficiency or inadequacy - nothing can be done to help you." Until now.
- KATHLEEN"

4. Please substantiate how your company is able to diagnose and treat "Mystery Illnesses"

5. Please substantiate the effectiveness of your products and services for treating the various medical conditions listed below, per your website claims.

- Allergies
- Autoimmune Disease (Arthritis; Celiac Disease; Diabetes Type I; Graves' disease; Guillain-Barré syndrome; HIV/AIDS; Multiple sclerosis; Pernicious anemia; Psoriasis; Rheumatoid arthritis; Sjögren's syndrome; Thyroid Disease; Lupus)
- Anti-Aging (Blood Pressure; Cardiovascular; Emphysema; Hormone Imbalance)
- Bones & Joints (Arthritis; Joint Pain; Osteoporosis; Rheumatoid Arthritis)
- Cancer
- Chronic Pain (Arthritis; Chronic Fatigue; Fibromyalgia; Joint Pain; Migraines & Headaches; Multiple sclerosis (MS))
- Chronic Illness (ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease; Alzheimer's Disease and other Dementias; Arthritis; Asthma; Cancer; Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD); Cystic Fibrosis; Diabetes; Eating Disorders; Emphysema; Gastrointestinal; Osteoperosis; Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) Syndrome; Thyroid Disease)
- Digestive Disorders (Acid Reflux; Celiac Disease; Chron's Disease; Constipation; Diverticulosis; Diverticulitis; Gastrointestinal Disorders; GERD; Hemorrhoids; Irritable Bowl Syndrome; Leaky Gut; Ulcer; Ulcerative Colitis)
- General Health (Acne; Autism/ADD/ADHD; Candida; Constipation; Diabetes; Emphysema; Gall Bladder Disease; Headaches; Insomnia; Kidney Stones; Multiple sclerosis (MS); Psoriasis)
- Heart and Vascular Health (Arteriosclerosis; Blood Pressure; Buerger's Disease; Cardiovascular Disease; Cholesterol; Circulation Problems; Gangrene; Stroke)
- Obestity (Blood Pressure Issues; Cholesterol; Diabetes)

On June 2,2020 FTC sent Utopia Wellness, Incorporated a Warning letter Regarding Unsubstantiated Claims for Coronavirus Prevention or Treatment(COVID-19).

Per the FTC: staff reviewed Utopia Wellness, Incorporated website at https://utopiawellness.com on May 24, 2020. FTC determined that Utopia Wellness, Incorporated unlawfully advertising that certain products or services treat or prevent Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Some examples of Coronavirus treatment or prevention claims on their website include:

In marketing materials titled "Coronavirus - A Proactive Approach," you claim that:

"So how do we rid ourselves from a viral infection? We do so through our
immune system. The stronger your immune system, the quicker you will heal. This is why some people are susceptible to coronavirus and recuperate, while other people die and yet another subset never gets ill."

"So what can I do to protect myself against coronavirus today?... Fortify your immune system is key. I use several methods that help build my immune system. First, I take daily supplements that include vitamin C, zinc lozenges and vitamin D3. These are my go to preventative and interventional supplements. I also add additional high doses of vitamin C (link to https://utopiawellness.com/immune-booster/) though intravenous injection."

"My regimen for prevention also includes colonic irrigation (link to https://utopiawellness.com/services/colon-therapy/). This therapy is ignored and
maligned by practitioners who have never explored its benefits, let alone tried it. Remember, the transverse colon is the part of our body that makes our lymphatic fluid, an essential component in a healthy immune system."

"Clinically, this three-prong approach of detoxification (link to
https://utopiawellness.com/services/detoxification/), immune fortifying IVs and expectoration, have provided me and my patients with dramatic symptomatic relief and a shortening of the disease process."

It is unlawful under the FTC Act to advertise that a product or service can prevent, treat, or cure human disease unless you possess competent and reliable scientific evidence, including, when appropriate, well-controlled human clinical
studies, substantiating that the claims are true at the time they are made.

For COVID-19, no such study is currently known to exist for the products or services identified above. Thus, any Coronavirus-related prevention or treatment claims regarding such products or services are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Per FTC Utopia Wellness, Incorporated must immediately cease making all such claims.

FTC also advised Utopia Wellness, Incorporated to review all other claims for your products and services and immediately cease making claims that are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

FTC asked Utopia Wellness, Incorporated to within 48 hours send a message to James E. Elliott via electronic mail at jelliott@ftc.gov describing the specific actions Utopia Wellness, Incorporated has taken to address the FTC's concerns.

If you have any questions regarding compliance with the FTC Act, please contact Zachary A.
Keller at zkeller@ftc.gov.