NOTE: This February 1, 2003 Chicagoland Golf investigative report was the first in the industry to take an in-depth look at the fraudulent claims made by Q-Ray bracelets. Please note that at one time the company claimed Q-Rays had cured cancer pain.
The Federal Trade Commission followed up in June, 2003, charging QT Inc. with making false claims and unsubstantiated statements. At that time the FTC also froze the company's assets. That story follows this investigative report.
Lawsuit cites Mayo study: Q-Ray bracelets, costume jewelry provide same pain relief
February 1, 2003
By Phil Kosin Chicagoland Golf editor
Every golfer and weekend athlete has seen them in infomercials. Heck, if you watch early morning TV or The Golf Channel or golf telecasts, they’re pretty hard to avoid. And they’re widely sold over the Internet.
And for a long while, it seemed just about every Touring professional had one strapped to his wrist on and off the course. Not to mention just about every couch potato who suffered from chronic joint pain.
The Q-Ray Ionized Bracelet.
Is wearing one a miracle, or are they selling snake oil?
Several leading medical authorities say they don’t think it’s a miracle, among them a group of researchers from Mayo Clinic.
Neither does Chicagoan Donald Casey. The 78 year-old on Jan. 21 filed a class action lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against Elk Grove Village-based QT, Inc., manufacturer of the well-known Q-Ray Ionized Bracelet.
Casey bought a Q-Ray hoping to relieve arthritic pain in his knees, elbows and back. He was attracted by its claims to relieve pain by restoring the body “to its normal electrical balance.”
Q-Ray bracelets are made from copper and zinc. Q-Rays are marketed as “a natural way to keep the body’s energy force – or ‘qi,’ – healthy.” Supposedly, they balance the body’s negative and positive components, called yin and yang.
As long as yin and yang are in balance, Q-Ray says, you remain healthy and pain-free.
Q-Ray says that while there are similar devices on the market, it alone makes “ionized” bracelets. The “ionization” is supposedly what makes it relieve pain.
So after buying a Q-Ray and wearing it, Casey saw the Mayo Clinic study that found Q-Rays worked no better than inactive placebo look-alike bracelets. “I felt cheated,” he said, according to the Chicago Sun-Times Red Streak.
Casey’s suit asks that Q-Ray customers get their money back, plus compensation for injuries they may have suffered “from delaying or forgoing legitimate medical treatment,” according to attorney Thomas Zimmerman Jr. The Q-Rays sell for about $50 for a basic model to $200 for a platinum edition.
The lawsuit intrigued me, and I declare myself right now as an opinionated SOB, a longtime skeptic of the Q-Ray’s alleged “powers.” Same goes for copper bracelets, lucky ball markers, wearing a red or black shirt in the final round, ad infinitum, ad nauseam. More on this later.
Timing is everything, and the Casey lawsuit comes on the heels of the release of study results late last November by researchers (a committee of doctors) at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., that basically says the Q-Ray does no more for pain than a costume jewelry bracelet. The object was to “assess objectively the perceived benefits of wearing an ‘ionized’ wrist bracelet to treat muscle or joint pain.”
Click at right to view the original Mayo Clinic paper:
The
key word here is “perceived.” Different people have different
tolerances for pain, and if they believe a metal bracelet worn on the
wrist will give them a degree of relief from pain, it probably will. In
Q-Ray’s case, through aggressive marketing, it created the general
perception that its product would relieve pain because of it being
“ionized” – which made it different from all other similar bracelets.
You can get a lot more pain relief from spending $200 on Advil or Aleve.
Enter
the renowned Mayo Clinic. Over a two-year period in 2000 and 2001, the
clinic did a randomized, double-blind study in Florida of 610
participants age 18 or older, averaging 48 years-old, all who claimed
to have musculoskeletal pain in the neck, lower back, elbows, wrists,
or feet. Half of the group wore the Q-Ray “ionized” bracelets exactly
as specified by the manufacturer. The other 305 wore a placebo,
look-alike non-ionized bracelet. Neither the subjects nor the
researchers knew which bracelet they were wearing (a “double-blind”
test). Each participant wore their assigned bracelet for four weeks for
the study and was asked to rate the intensity of their pain immediately
after putting the bracelets on, and again at one, three, seven, 14, 21
and 28 days.
To sum up the results, analysis of the data showed
“significant improvement” in pain scores in both groups. What is
significant is that no differences were observed between the group
wearing the Q-Rays and the group wearing the placebo bracelets.
I
don’t want to gang up on Q-Ray here, not my intent. I suppose if you
believe one of those copper bracelets also has healing qualities, it
will make you feel better. But I haven't seen any credible stories on
copper bracelet research.
I write this because I just hate to see people waste their hard-earned money.
The
Mayo Clinic’s not-so-surprising finding that improvement in pain scores
was the same for both the Q-Ray and the placebo bracelet “questions the
benefit of using an ionized bracelet.” While three-quarters – 77.4
percent – of the study’s Q-Ray wearers indicated some relief from pain,
76.7 percent of the placebo-wearers made the same claim.
So the
study shows wearing a Q-Ray ionized bracelet is no more effective than
wearing a placebo (costume jewelry) bracelet, although the Mayo Clinic
study does support the idea that a placebo can help pain.
“Based
on the study results,” said Mayo Clinic principal investigator Dr.
Robert Bratton, “you may be just as well off wearing a rubber band
around your wrist and saving the money spent on the bracelet.”
Reuters
reported that Bratton’s golf buddies requested he do the study. They
had seen so many professional golfers wearing the bracelets, they were
wondering if they do help alleviate pain. So they approached Bratton,
and the rest is history.
Golfers, by nature, seem to be
especially gullible. That’s why a particular putter or wedge or driver
used by a top Tour pro to win an event becomes such a hot, gotta-have
item. Most of the time, we don’t get the same performance out of the
product as the Tour pro. What do they say about some of those “hot”
drivers?
You hit them straight until you remove the price tag.
So
it would figure the plethora of elite athletes wearing Q-Rays helped
propagate the idea that they had some sort of health/pain benefit. And
golfers rushed out in droves and bought them.
I had one, given
to me a few years ago by the QT Inc., to “test.” But while I had heard
many people tell me the Q-Ray had helped their pain, I was still a
skeptic. People saw me wearing it and asked, “Does it really reduce
your pain?”
“I don’t know,” was my honest reply. “But I am
afraid to take it off because then I might not be able to crawl out of
bed at all in the morning.”
Truth be told, a hot, stinging shower upon arising gave me more relief from pain.
I also had one of those fancy copper bracelets, and people also asked me the same question. “Does it work?”
“If it is supposed to turn my wrist green,” I’d answer, “then it’s working great.”
This
isn’t Q-Ray’s first problem with its claims. About two years ago, the
Consumer Justice Center (a California non-profit corporation run by
attorney Mark Boling) filed a lawsuit against Q-Ray for false
advertising. The suit was settled out of court, but afterwards, the
claims on the Q-Ray website were toned down. At one time, QT, Inc.,
claimed its bracelet provided relief from cancer pain, as well as
improving sports performance and endurance.
Dr. Stephen Barrett,
regarded as an expert on fraudulent heath claims, runs a website called
“Quackwatch” (www.quackwatch.org). He submitted a statement to the
court in the California lawsuit, saying claims for the ionized bracelet
are “misleading, deceptive and false.”
“QT, Inc., of Elk Grove
Village, Illinois, markets ‘ionized’ bracelets claimed to benefit
people by balancing the body’s flow of ‘electromagnetic energy,” says
Barrett. “It is said to have been invented in 1973 by Manuel L. Polo, a
chiropractor living on the Spanish island of Mallorca."
In 1997 and 1998, the manufacturer’s Web site stated: "The
Q-Ray bracelet is designed to achieve many of the same goals as
traditional Chinese acupuncture. Acupuncture was developed to balance
the body’s Yin (negative ions) and Yang (positive ions), the two
inseparable, complementary energies that permanently circulate in the
human body. When these energies become unbalanced, the body’s
functioning is thought to be altered – which can be at least very
annoying and at worst debilitating, depending on the size and nature of
the energy imbalance. Oriental medicine, through acupuncture, is
believed to regulate these two energies, discharging from the body
excess positive ions and providing access to blocked negative ions, by
stimulating meridian acupuncture points."
More from Q-Ray’s website: “In
the human body, which is electromagnetic by nature, biomagnetic alpha
and beta waves circulate throughout the vital centers. When the flow is
cut off and these alpha and beta waves become stagnant in one
particular area of the body, bioelectrical alterations and ionic
imbalances can result. Designed by Dr. Polo with polarized
multi-metallic metals, the Q-Ray bracelet’s circular form and spherical
terminals offer low resistance to the bioelectrical conductibility of
the alpha and beta waves, facilitating the discharge of excess positive
ions or static electricity. Excess of positive ions is associated with
poor nutrition, incorrect breathing, sedentary life style, and the use
of electrical instruments or exposure to EMF (Electronic Magnetic
Field). Loss of negative ions is associated with symptoms such as
anxiety, stress, fear, hatred, and physical exhaustion."
Continuing: “The
Q-Ray bracelet’s effectiveness is grounded in the phenomenon of
radioelectrical ‘Resonance’ – balancing of positive and negative ions
within the human body. Because of its unique characteristics and
specialized configuration, the bracelet is considered to be an
excellent Resonator of electromagnetic waves. The first investigations
into the science behind the Resonator were initiated by Heinrich Rudolf
Hertz. The Resonator designed by Hertz consisted of a metal spiral with
a condenser on each end. Building on the works of Faraday and Maxwell,
Hertz determined the precise longitudes of electromagnetic waves. It is
not known whether Hertz investigated the applications of the Resonator
on the human body. Manuel L. Polo, however, focused on improving human
life through the proper balancing of positive and negative ions within
the human body."
Barrett takes major issue with those claims.
“For
several years, QT, Inc., claimed that its bracelets could restore
health, relieve cancer pain, improve muscle flexibility, improve sports
performance, restore energy, and provide other health benefits,” says
Barrett. “It was also claimed to ‘energize your whole body instantly.
In 2000, an infomercial stated: ‘When you have a severe injury or a
chronic injury or a chronic problem like arthritis, you have build-up
of positive ions, wherever that is you are going to have pain. In order
to remove this pain, Q-Ray bracelet rips it right out of the body!’”
In December 2000, Q-Ray’s website stated:
“Q-Ray ionized bracelet regulates the imbalance of both positive and negative ions in your body the Natural Way.
“Our
bodies run on electrical energy. It is this electrical current that
moves through our nervous system and controls every aspect of our body.
As long as this flow of energy remains unimpeded, it is believed that
we remain physically and mentally balanced and therefore, in good
health. In order for the electrical energy to flow normally the
negative and positive ions, the yin and yang, must be balanced. Q-Ray
Ionized Bracelet is engineered to discharge positive Ions and restore
the Ying-Yang balance.
“When injury or chronic conditions impede
this flow, the body can begin to generate an overabundance of positive
ions which offsets the balance of our electrical system.
“Studies
have shown that naturally, increased strength, restored energy, better
endurance, and a greater sense of health and well-being.”
“The
above descriptions of bodily electrical energy flow are nonsense,” says
Dr. Barrett. “Ions exist in solution throughout the body. There is no
such thing as an ‘ionized bracelet,’ because solid objects are not
ionized. There is no such thing as an ionic imbalance of the body, and
no scientifically recognized connection between allegedly ‘ionized’
objects and pain relief."
“Furthermore,” continues
Barrett, “the Q-Ray bracelet has no power source. So even if ‘ionic
imbalance’ could exist, the claim that the Q-Ray could influence the
body’s “electrical energy” supply is preposterous.
QT, Inc.,
always has a large, well-attended exhibit at The PGA Merchandise Show
in Orlando. In fact, the latest infomercial for the Q-Ray features
incredible claims of instant pain relief by showgoers after a
demonstration of the Q-Ray bracelet, usually strength tests without, then with the Q-Ray.
“QT, Inc., claims that its bracelets can be tested by testing finger strength before and after wearing one,” says Barrett.
“While
the person being tested holds his or her right thumb and forefinger
together, in another person applies steady pressure to pull them apart.
Then the object or substance being tested in placed in contact with the
subject’s body and the test is repeated. If the finger’s are harder to
pull apart during the second test, whatever has been applied is said to
have been working. This test, called the O-Ring test or the Omura test,
is said to have been devised during the 1970s by a Japanese doctor
named Omura Oshiagi. Proponents claim that it works through changes in
‘electronic energy.’
"However, the most likely explanation is
either that the tester varies the force or the subject gets ‘weaker’ or
‘stronger’ in response to suggestion.”
This year, when I visited
its booth, things were quieter than previous years. QT, Inc., showed a
video in its exhibition space, filled with chairs, theater-style. I did
not see any live demonstrations.
And, when I asked, a Q-Ray spokesperson declined to comment on both the Mayo study and the Casey class-action lawsuit.
Perhaps Mayo Clinic’s principal investigator said it best.
“We
need to look at what our patients are doing for their various
problems,” Dr. Robert Bratton said, “and undertake objective,
controlled studies to prove whether or not these treatments are
beneficial.”
James Randi has an international reputation as a
magician and escape artist, but today he is best known as the world’s
most tireless investigator and demystifier of paranormal and
pseudoscientific claims.
“We at the James Randi Education
Foundation agree enthusiastically with this [Mayo Clinic] statement,”
says Randi. “In the same breath, we ask why (a) it took so long for
anyone to undertake an investigation (the Q-Ray has been sold
internationally for more than a decade now), (b) why it was golf
buddies who had to suggest it, and (c) what is going to be done, and
when, about the myriad of other quack devices being sold on the U.S.
and foreign market?
“We’re offered and sold ‘blue light therapy’
by chiropractors, homeopathic ‘remedies’ by Eckerd Drugs and most other
pharmaceutical chains, and various roots and leaves to use as cures –
and they don’t work, either!”
Barrett says there is one problem
with the Mayo study. It let QT Inc. say truthfully that three-quarters
of the people wearing its bracelets reported pain relief.
FTC charges Q-Ray with making false claims, freezes assets
June 4, 2003
By Phil Kosin Chicagoland Golf editor
In a stunning move, the Federal Trade Commission has charged Elk Grove Village-based marketers of a purported pain-relief product called the Q-Ray Ionized Bracelet (Q-Ray Bracelet) with making false and unsubstantiated claims.
If you recall, Chicagoland Golf in its Golf Show (Feb., 2003) issue ran an extensive investigative report based on the results of a Mayo Clinic study that showed the Q-Ray Bracelet is no more effective than a placebo bracelet at relieving muscular and joint pain. Now a federal district court has issued a temporary restraining order against the defendants, which prohibits the defendants from making any misleading or deceptive claims about the Q-Ray Bracelet – and Q-Ray has also had all of its assets frozen, reportedly to prevent money transfers to banks outside of the U.S.
According to court documents, the FTC is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, including redress, to consumers who purchased Q-Ray bracelets.
The Q-Ray Bracelet is a C-shaped metal bracelet that the defendants claim is “ionized” through a secret process that gives it pain-relieving abilities. The defendants promote their product through a nationally-televised 30-minute infomercial and on the Internet.
The defendants allege in their ads that their product works by supposedly altering the body's positive and negative energy to naturally relieve pain from a variety of ailments, including musculoskeletal pain, sciatica, headaches, tendonitis, and injuries. The Q-Ray Bracelet ranges in price from $49.95 to $249.95 and was heavily marketed to golfers. Many touring professionals and athletes in other sports wore the bracelets, leading consumers to believe the claims were true.
The defendants’ infomercial advertises a risk-free money-back guarantee that allows consumers to return the Q-Ray Bracelet for a full refund within 30 days if they are not satisfied. The FTC’s complaint alleges, however, that consumers were not able to readily obtain a full refund of the purchase price if they returned the product within 30 days, as promised in the defendants’ infomercials. In fact, according to the FTC, many unsatisfied purchasers were unable to obtain refunds despite repeatedly contacting the defendants.
Furthermore, some purchasers who viewed the infomercial and went to the defendants’ Web site to order the Q-Ray Bracelet were not given this 30-day satisfaction guarantee.
Good news if you were one of those who coughed up hard-earned dollars for product that did as much to cure pain, according to the Mayo Clinic, as wearing a rubber band on your wrist. Stay tuned.
