I had the good fortune to visit New York City and walk on the iconic Brooklyn Bridge in August 2019.  The Brooklyn Bridge was opened in 1883 and was the longest suspension bridge in the world.  It was an engineering marvel that spanned the East River and linked lower Manhattan to Brooklyn.  At that time, it was a toll bridge and pedestrians paid one cent to cross the bridge.  A horse and rider paid five cents and a horse-drawn wagon paid 10 cents.  The toll charges were later rescinded.  The numerous steel cables fan out in an amazing web-like pattern that attaches from neo-gothic arches above to girders below.  You are also treated to amazing panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline.  On that afternoon the bridge was congested with many pedestrians and street vendors trying to sell souvenirs.  If you ventured across into the bike lane, a cyclist in true New York fashion would let you know what he or she thought.  It has also been said that the Brooklyn Bridge has been bought and sold many times by hucksters and con artists to unsuspecting tourists and immigrants.  It is a prime example of the oft-used idiom “if it sounds too good to be true, it often is.”

Unfortunately, the same cliche can be applied to the field of natural medicine.  There have been more than a few examples of fraudulent scoundrels and scallywags tainting so-called nutritional supplements with undeclared pharmaceutical drugs in the name of profits and clinical efficacy.  In thirty years of practice, I have encountered several products that seemed “too good to be true.”  They were often touted as “amazing” and “miraculous” in unsupported advertising claims that were not backed up with adequate scientific research. And they seemed to work “amazingly” well, above and beyond what would be expected from a vitamin or herbal formula.  I would often look at the ingredient list, scratch my head, and wonder aloud why this formula or blend worked so well.  However, unbeknown to me, the product was often mislabeled and was often purposely adulterated with an enhancing pharmaceutical ingredient.^1,2