Mumbai: From his house in Santacruz, a western suburb of Mumbai, E.M. Lobo doles out an unclassified substance that he says will cure people of the most lethal ailments—cancer, HIV/AIDS, heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure, arthritis and more. The wonder drug, made by a US-based company, is sold through a network of independent distributors than over pharmacy counters.
Lobo is one of those distributors. He works for 4Life Research USA Llc., a multi-level marketing company which claims that the substance, based on what it calls the “transfer factor” formula, can boost human immunity levels 437% and cure these diseases and disorders. Never mind that the world’s top drug companies are still spending billions of dollars to find cures for most of the conditions this drug addresses.
Transfer factor refers to a group of proteins credited with transferring immunity from parents to their children. It is found in eggs, white blood cells and colostrum, which is a complex milk protein produced in late pregnancy or soon after giving birth.
“We are not doctors but we have common sense, and we know that the only way to build good health is supplements,” says Lobo, who calls himself a wellness guru. The company’s drug, he says, is a patented concentrate of transfer factors from cow colostrums and egg yolk. It costs Rs3,000 for a bottle of 60 capsules and has been sold in India for the past nine months.
Multi-level marketing: The 4Life product has been in India for nine months ((Ashesh Shah / Mint)
With no legal sanction, the 4Life product is yet another instance of so-called magic remedies touted unchecked through multi-level marketing route, involving several layers of distributors and retailers, and finally reaching customers in India.
Earlier, Conybio Healthcare (India) Pvt. Ltd, Japan Life and Amway Corp. took the same path to sell health care products with unsubstantiated claims.
Vasant Pandit , the promoter of Japan Life, was arrested by the Delhi Police in 2005 on charges of duping his distributors and investors of crores of rupees.
The company, which was raided in offices across India, used to sell imported health magnetic beds called the “Japan Life Total Sleeping System” through multi-level marketing claiming cures for arthritis and diabetes.
“As India still does not have laws to regulate food/dietary supplements, many companies take advantage of this and come out with products that they claim are therapies for complicated diseases,” says Bhadra Sen Gupta, a leading oncologist in Mumbai who recently initiated a patient awareness programme to guard against quacks and advertisements touting magic remedies.
Lobo claims the transfer factor is not a drug but a nutritional supplement and does not need a prescription. “Transfer factor is not a medicine, drug, vitamin, herb or mineral. It is an immuno-molecule that has all the intelligence like a memory chip. It can transfer the immunity to the body and overnight you enjoy a very powerful immune support.”