Mannatech : Extreme Caution Advised

William T. Jarvis, Ph.D.

Mannatech, a multilevel marketing health products firm, is promoting itself as a "nutraceutical frontrunner." "Nutraceutical" is a marketing term for foods alleged to favorably alter the structure or function of the body beyond what normal foods can accomplish. The company's lead product, Manapol, is simply aloe vera juice. Mannatech promoters acknowledge that many counterfeit products emerged during past aloe vera fads, but they claim that this juice is the real thing.

It is generally acknowledged that breaking off a leaf from a living aloe vera plant and applying the juice to a burn is an excellent first aid measure. Aloe vera juice is also used in burn wards to soothe, protect and moisten wounds. The problem with marketing the juice is that it doesn't keep well. Processing inactivates the ingredient that produces the desired effects. So, many aloe vera products contain processed juice that has lost the plant's helpful properties.

According to Mannatech's literature, aloe vera expert Ivan Danhof, PhD, MD, warned aloe promoters about making claims, and on the instability of beta-1,4-mannan molecules. Mannatech says that the "future of aloe vera belongs to those who have the ability to stabilize and standardize (emphasis added) this labile polysaccharide," and that Manapol is the "only commercially processed aloe vera product capable of achieving and make the claim for standardizing betamannans."

Mannatech has a licensing agreement with Carrington Laboratories, an aloe processor that has a jaded history on Wall Street in connection with its product Carrisyn. Carrisyn was said to have an Investigational New Drug (IND) permit from the FDA as a topical gel for treating bedsores. Carrington also announced that it had filed for patents in 43 countries for Carrisyn and that the drug might be useful for AIDS. AIDS is a buzzword that sends stocks flying. However, the FDA denied that it had issued an IND forCarrisyn. It had only assigned a number to Carrington's IND application. All of this produced quite a stink among investment watchdogs, which was detailed in two reports in Barron's [1,2].

NCRHI believes that extreme caution is advised on Mannatech. Mannatech's President Caster has a checkered history. In 1991, his Eagle Shield Inc. claimed its Electracat device would repel insects and other pests by emitting high-frequency vibrations. The Texas Attorney General disagreed. "The device is a hoax and stands on the same scientific footing as a perpetual motion machine," said Assistant Attorney General William Goodman, who won a permanent injunction against Caster and Eagle Shield in Travis County District Court. Caster agreed to stop selling the Electracat, to not make unsupported scientific claims about any other product, and to pay $125,000 in investigative costs. Two years earlier, Caster and Eagle Shield were accused of deceiving consumers by claiming their Eagle Shield Radiant Barrier was a scientific breakthrough in home insulation and would provide significant savings in energy costs. The Texas Attorney General got a court order banning such claims after arguing the product had been available for more than 40 years and that the energy-saving claims were false. Caster and the company agreed not to make more false statements, and Eagle Shield filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Caster co-founded Mannatech in 1993.

Mannatech tells consumers scientific studies show its nutritional supplements are safe, promote good health and are even covered by a health insurance plan. Investors have been given another story. In documents for its initial public stock sale in February, 1999, Mannatech told potential buyers it doesn't know whether its products were safe, or even if they worked. Yet Stephen Boyd, a physician who is Mannatech's international medical director, praises its supplements in a recorded message for prospective customers. He says the products facilitate the body's ability to heal itself and are "inherently non-toxic." Coppell, Texas-based Mannatech warned in the share-sale prospectus, however, that there is no assurance its products, "even when used as directed, will have the effects intended, or will not have harmful side effects."

"Why are they telling consumers one thing and investors another?" asked Stephen Barrett, M.D, chairman of Quackwatch Inc., a not-for-profit organization that monitors healthcare fraud. "A company has a responsibility to determine its products are safe and effective before it sells them." Company executives declined to comment about the products, which are sold through more than 400,000 independent agents in the United States and in Australia. In its IPO filing, Mannatech cautioned investors that its MVP product, marketed for weight control, contains ephedrine, a substance the FDA has linked to heart attacks, strokes and death. There are no warnings in the company's literature for consumers about MVP. The FDA, which has received more than 800 reports of adverse events associated with ephedrine, has proposed banning its sale for weight control.

While Mannatech says it has an eight-member scientific team, its monthly magazine recently said there are no double-blind, placebo-controlled studies of the type used by drug companies establishing that its products work. It said it that between 1995 and 1997, it spent about $667,000 (0.25% of sales) on research. The company offers consumers insurance called MannaCare that reimburses up to 50% of the cost of its supplements. It also provides full medical, dental and vision coverage for premiums of up to $9,120 annually. The insurance is offered through U.S. Alliance, a Crofton, Maryland, insurer that said it's unlicensed in the state. "There wasn't an insurer they met with in the last three years that would reimburse" for Mannatech products, said Walter Nieves, president of U.S. Alliance. "That's why they came to me." Nieves said he doesn't need a license because his plan is exempt from state regulation.  Continue To Full Article