Testosterone Wars

A seller of dietary supplements is succeeding by promising power to the

aggrieved.
BY JAMES HAMBLIN JUN 23, 2017 5 MINUTES
SAVE FOR LATERSAVE TESTOSTERONE WARS FOR LATER

Source: Oli Scarff / Getty

There has always been money in testosterone, but especially now. The world
is awash in ads for products that “enhance” and “support” testosterone levels.
They promise health and virility. They are predicated on the contested
assumption that there is a widespread dearth of testosterone—that more
problems lie in scarcity than surplus.
Among these products is a potion known as Super Male Vitality. A single
two-ounce vial costs $59.95. (The “retail” price on the seller’s website is
given as $69.95, but that price has been conspicuously crossed out.)

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For buyers who are not convinced by the discount and the phallic applicator
and the promise of some kind of superior maleness, there is the question of
what this product is. Its seller claims: “As men age, they may often
experience a slow-down in vitality, energy, and overall wellness,” so Super
Male Vitality is “specifically designed to assist the body in regulating proper
balance to create superior vitality in males.”
The liquid is a mix of widely available herbs. The reason many people seem
to believe it creates superior vitality in males is that the liquid is sold at a
store called Infowars—which you may know as the media business owned
by Alex Jones, who you may know as the man who takes his shirt off and
yells a lot, and who believes that the massacre of children at Sandy Hook was
a hoax, and who has said tap water is “a gay bomb.”
Jones was in the news this week regarding an interview with NBC’s Megyn
Kelly, which was diffusely criticized for the fact of even giving air time to
Jones. He is often described as a media personality or commentator, and his
radio show is widely syndicated, and his videos have been seen millions of
times online––though he distances himself from “the media” in any sense. He
might better be described as a provocateur, then—a person in the business of
getting attention.
At some point, of course, that attention needs to be turned into money. That
seems to be where Super Male Vitality and the rest of Jones’ health business
comes in. Buzzfeed reported last month that according to multiple former
Infowars employees, the supplements were what really turned Infowars into a
“media empire” that caters to conspiracy-minded consumers, estimating
annual sales in the tens of millions of dollars. (It’s not just Super Male
Vitality: Infowars also sells a product called Brain Force Plus, and another
called Caveman, which will invite users to “rediscover the human blueprint,
and experience the power of cutting edge science.”) One former
employee said Jones “can sell 500 supplements in an hour.”
These supplements seem to be more than a part of the business model, but the
core of it. Infowars does not operate like a newspaper or magazine, by selling
ad space to third parties.
Last month in New York magazine, Seth Brown detailed that Jones makes no
money from selling ads on his radio show, which amounts to a widely
syndicated four-hour infomercial for supplements. “An examination of his
business seems to indicate that the vast majority of Infowars’ revenue comes
from sales of these dietary supplements. Infowars isn’t a media empire—it’s
a snake-oil empire.”
Infowars didn’t reply to my request to discuss some products’ health claims
and sales. Though a representative did tell me that in the future I should
address questions about the supplement business to an account
called whistleblower@infowars.com, the existence of which seems like an
admission of something.
The store itself is heavily fortified with legal caveats for its health claims,
like “The information contained in the Website is provided for informational
purposes only, and is not meant to substitute for the advice provided by your
doctor or other health care professional.”
So to be clear: The information is for informational purposes only.
Though even this is not quite true. The fine print actually says that the act of
reading the information absolves Infowars and Alex Jones of any
responsibility for conveying that information. (“By using this site for any
purpose whatsoever, including reading, browsing, studying … you are
agreeing to indemnify Infowars … from any claims or responsibility for
anything which may result there from, and you accept sole responsibility for
any legal, medical, or financial liability which may occur as a result of your
usage of the pages on this site.”)
The company is not responsible for the information, or for the act of selling
products that make unsubstantiated health claims. You the reader are
responsible for the act of using the page. This is the sort of setup for which
consumer protection exists. Of course, Jones rants against all sorts of
consumer-protection measures, entities, and ideas. He has a vested interest in
it remaining that way.
It was in fact because of an expensive campaign of fear-of-government-
mongering by the supplement industry that Jones and others are able to sell
these medicinal concoctions without the government getting in their way. The
1994 Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act effectively lets anyone
sell medicine––so long as it’s not explicitly medicines, but ingestible non-
food products that claim to improve health. More specifically, a product can’t
be sold to treat or cure a specific disease, as pharmaceuticals are, but a
supplement can claim to provide health, vitality, cardiovascular support, joint
functionality, brain wellness, et cetera.
The law has led to much consumer confusion and piles of money wasted on
products that may or may not be offering “support” or “vitality” or
“enhancement.” But it has been a boon for industry. Instead of paying
hundreds of millions of dollars to bring a product to market as a vetted
pharmaceutical, anyone can go to market with a potion or pill or whatnot.
This is acknowledged in a dark grey font on a black background on Infowars:
“These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug
Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or
prevent any disease.”
Meanwhile much more visibly, right next to the product, buyers are assured:
“As always, we offer what we have researched and believe to be the highest
quality selection of products for you and your family that have been
developed along with the advisory of top doctors and experts.”
Only one doctor and/or expert is named on the site. He is referred to as Dr.
Edward Group, and he is the person credited with inventing the Infowars
supplement concoctions. It was he who “created the most powerful herbal
male hormonal support product on the market,” Super Male Vitality. And it
was Group who explained in an Infowars Youtube video called “The B12
Conspiracy” that “everyone is deficient in B12 because of all the pesticides
and everything else that's been sprayed on the soil.” Infowars also sells
vitamin B12 (as most pharmacies do for a few dollars). Though the Infowars
product is called Secret 12, and it costs $29.99.

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I find no leading expert who agrees that all people are deficient in B12—or
even that many people are. In particular cases, a B12 supplement may be
beneficial—but this is a discussion for a particular patient with their
particular doctor who knows their particular case. Apart from certain few
other cases—vitamin D in certain people, folic acid in pregnant females,
vitamin C in 18th-century transoceanic seamen—supplements do not help us.
Group is a chiropractor. He is pictured on his web site in a white coat and
scrubs, signifying to clients some belonging in the medical profession. His
website lists multiple media appearances, the recurring theme being
opposition to “Western medicine.” For example, he told The New York
Times in 2009, “Western medicine is treating the symptoms instead of
addressing the root cause.”
This is a mantra of “alternative” and “naturopathic” healers. It’s, of course,
true. Like Jones’s conspiracy theories, it’s based in truth and plausibility. But
it can be true that the U.S. health-care system is built around a fee-for-service
model that ignores the causes of disease—and it can simultaneously be true
that the answer to the problem is not to spend your money on Super Male
Vitality or other “dietary supplement” pills, powders, and potions.  They risk
providing a false security and distract from addressing the root cause of
disease. And it is not a discussion to be had with a doctor who also sells
supplements—much less at exorbitant markups.
Yet worse than all this is that these sales tactics are predicated on sowing
distrust in what is actually known. The near consensus of actual leading
experts is that eating mostly minimally processed plant-based foods is the
best way to keep a body nourished. If there are indeed effects of certain herbs
on human testosterone levels—a plausible concept—it is not likely necessary
to pay exorbitantly for ultra-concentrated vials. In addition to lack of
evidence, the product’s validity is undermined by the fact that Infowars also
sells a potion called Super Female Vitality. It does not mention testosterone.
The list of ingredients is almost identical.
Though it ends in ellipses.
Article originally published atThe Atlantic