Revivo Herb Whats all this Revivo herb?I read an article that its banned in South Africa.Does it really work or is it just made by some quack doctors?Yes they say they have this and that over 900 or some bullshit numbers who can come to protect their lying theory.Poznews please give us clarification you seem to be one of their supporter especially with your twitts
Re: Revivo Herb Hi, to clarify, Revivo is not banned in South Africa or any other country, it is a dietary supplement used by many including people who have HIV to support their immune systems.
It is not marketed as a treatment or cure for HIV or AIDS or any other disease for that matter. The supplement is also paid for by many medical aids.
Unfortunately there are those who feel that people should be forced only to use their drugs and not the system of natural and traditional medicine that is a part of the worlds heritage and has been used for centuries to successfully manage illness.
Revivo is based on this system and hence is often attacked, many of our users say that Revivo is attacked more than other supplements because it works so well.
In conclusion however remember that we have never advocated that Revivo is a treatment or cure for HIV and we never advise people to leave conventional treatment, the use of Revivo is a personal choice and that choice is a right that the people possess that should not be taken away.
Revivo Thank you for replying my post,why then was revivo pulled out of the Youth League website?http://www.vocfm.co.za/index.php?section=news&category=sanews&article=47080 if your products are as good as you portray them why not register?We are sick and tired of people trying to administer and mislead people to buying their products and as you know HIV sufferers are desperate,I also find it very offensive for a known website like Poznews to be promoting your products.Poznews please
Are you supporting Revivo for financial gains?there are numerous sites you can promote with products well known,sincerely am totally against Revivo because it does not help in boosting the immune system,ever tried alovera?I appeal to you get rid of all their Ads or else!!!!!!!!
You are pro health give us relevant products that are proven to work.
It's so amusing on your site you place a you tube info on Americans banning quack products.You should lead by example.
The Revivo rip-off By Marcus Low
Published: June 6, 2011, 11:21 p.m., Last updated: June 10, 2011, 6:08 p.m.
There is no good reason to think that Revivo confers any survival benefit to HIV-positive people. Yet, there is a fascinating survival story to tell here - the story of how Revivo's brand of AIDS quackery has survived despite the Advertising Standards Authority ruling against them in 2009.Revivo is a herbal supplement distributed by a company called Aconite Medical Suppliers. A bottle of thirty 500mg capsules sells for 30 dollars (about R200) on their website. They also list about 30 stockists in places across South Africa: from Lenasia and Katlehong to Mafikeng and Nelspruit. Even though this article will focus on their online marketing, their reach clearly goes beyond just online sales.
On the ingredients page of their website they list the following: Arctium Lappa, Coix Seed, Leonurus Herba, Nelumbo Nucifera, Prunella Vulgaris, Zizyphus Jojoba, Viola Yedoensis, Astragalus Root, Codonopsis Pilosulae.
Prunella Vulgaris and Zizyphus Jojoba are claimed to have an effect against HIV. Also my browser displays text instead of images. For each of the images associated with the above ingredients the text replacements have the words “for HIV”.
Like many quack websites, the Revivo site over extrapolates and misrepresents the available research. The Astragalus Root section listed at the top of their “research page” is a good example. Here they reference a study that appeared in the Journal of Immunology in November 2008. This was a basic lab study on the impact of cycloastragenol (an extract from the plant) on telomeres (a region of the DNA). The thinking is that healthier telomere activity would help the body fight HIV. Like hundreds upon hundreds of studies, this study is relatively interesting in a theoretical sense and may or may not warrant further research.
However, this study says nothing about what happens when you give an HIV-positive human being cycloastragenol in a capsule. Many quacks cite test-tube research like this in an attempt to hoodwink people into believing their is scientific evidence for the efficacy of their products in humans. Killing HIV in a laboratory is one thing; many substances can do it but few have ever become successful treatments.
The only way to determine with confidence whether there is a benefit to taking any product is by doing a properly controlled clinical trial. Prescribing cycloastragenol on the basis of anything less is simply mumbo jumbo.
One also wonders on what basis the manufacturers decided on the dosage. Given the scarcity of meaningful evidence, they must have just made it up – as seems to be the case for all the other ingredients of Revivo. At its core, this kind of quackery seems to espouse a reckless view of medicine where you simply take a bit of this, a bit of that, stir, and pretend it treats HIV.
Nonsense surveys
The Revivo website also mentions a recent survey they conducted. They start off their page on the survey by saying that “approximately 914 people responded to the survey”. Whereas not knowing exactly how many respondents your survey had is a problem, the study has more serious flaws, for example its sampling bias.
They say that 78% of respondants were recruited online. It is likely that these online recruits would mostly be people who already had an interest in Revivo. Furthermore, many of the survey findings relate to people who are already choosing to use Revivo. They are clearly positively predisposed to the product. Therefore, when Aconite states that 60.4% of Revivo users say their weight has improved, they are obviously not counting all the people who quit the product because they felt it didn’t work and didn't fill in the survey. Fundamentally flawed surveys like these are nothing but marketing and do not enhance knowledge.
One would hope journalists, especially HIV ones, would see through this kind of nonsense survey, but unfortunately this South African HIV magazine seems to have been taken in by the findings.
The 2009 ASASA ruling
The above is from the Revivo website as of June 2011. Aconite used to make even more extreme claims such as this one: “We have developed Revivo based on extensive research into effective herbs for HIV, as well as the ancient wisdom of Chinese herbal medicine, which has been treating HIV and AIDS successfully even before HIV and AIDS was recognised.”
After a complaint by Patrick Linzer the Advertising Standards Authority ruled in September 2009 that Revivo advertising was in breach of Appendix F of the advertising code. As regular readers of Quackdown will know, Appendix F stipulates that you may only sell a product as a treatment or cure for HIV if it has been registered as a treatment for HIV with the Medicines Control Council. Revivo was not registered and Aconite Medical Supplies was ordered to withdraw the advertisement.
The ASASA ruling resulted in the revivetea.co.za site being taken down and claims on herbalpharmacy.co.za being changed, but revivotea.com is still online – although the content is now a bit less bluntly misleading than it used to be.
Disclaimer doublethink
Aconite has learned some lessons and the Revivo site now has disclaimers like this one: “Revivo is not a cure or treatment for HIV or AIDS. It is not an alternative to conventional therapy, it is only a complementary herbal dietary supplement.”
However, the site is also filled with testimonials like this one:
“I started using Revivo capsules after I found out I was HIV positive in October last year. In November I bought a bottle. After 3 bottles of one month supply I did a second test for cd4s and viral loads. In October my cd4 was 185 and viral loads was 68000 but after the second test my cd4 was 324 and viral loads undetectable. Revivo is a really booster. I would recommend those who are positive to go for it. With this booster I don't think people should be afraid to die of Aids anymore . It is expensive but it's worth it... Try it and see.....”
So, the proprietors no longer claim directly that Revivo treats HIV, but they publish testimonials on their website that claim this on their behalf. The testimonials contradict the disclaimer. People who are desperately ill will likely prefer to believe the former.
Fortunately the Advertising Code makes provision for this kind of trickery. Section 2, clause 10.3 states:
Testimonials should not contain any claims to efficacy which cannot justifiably be attributed to the use of the product...
Since the claim in the testimonial clearly cannot reasonably be ascribed to Revivo, the advertisement is in breach of this clause. It could also be argued that, despite all the disclaimers, the site is also in breach of Appendix F since many users would understand the site to be promoting Revivo as an AIDS treatment.
Revivo’s Google campaign
Aconite has also started running Revivo adverts through Google’s Adword programme. This is the programme that serves the advertisements you see next to Google searches and on many websites that display Google advertisements next to their content. So, for example, the following advert has appeared on a number of major South African websites:
Are YOU HIV+? These Are The Herbs The Greedy AIDS Industry Doesn't Want You To Know! revivotea.com
It is unclear whether ASASA has jurisdiction over advertisements served through the Google Adword programme and whether their rulings would have any impact on Google. How exactly to deal with these advertisements therefore presents an interesting problem.
A few months ago I called ASASA and was advised to first try approaching Google or any of the sites where these adverts appeared before lodging a consumer complaint with ASASA. I then wrote to Google about the advertisement and got nothing more than an acknowledgement that my complaint was received. Recently Indra de Lanerolle also complained to Google about the advertisement and it seems Google has now finally removed it. Whereas I would encourage anyone to report quack adverts to Google, they unfortunately do not have a great record of removing quack adverts.
Apart from writing to Google, it is also worth writing to local online publishers directly when you find quack adverts on their sites. It doesn’t take more than five minutes for them to log into their Google accounts and block the revivotea.com adverts.
When you write to these local websites about quack adverts it is also worth stating that you believe an advert is in breach of the advertising code. Most major online publishers have also signed up to the Digital Media Marketing Association’s (DMMA) code This code states that “members shall comply with all compulsory advertising standards and regulations ensuring that all advertising is both current and falls within the guidelines of the ASA ...” (Clause 7.2.4.)
Just to be clear though, you may also go straight to ASASA and sites do not have to be DMMA members for ASASA to rule on them.
Either way, the battle to prevent Aconite from making misleading claims about Revivo will continue. Because as long as they place their misleading adverts, sick and desperate people will be duped into buying their products.
Note: I currently have a consumer complaint against Revivo pending with ASASA. According to his blog Indra de Lonerolle also has a complaint pending.
http://www.quackdown.info/article/revivo-rip-off/
Tear Down Revivo or no Peace Revivo Tea
by Harris
Revivo tea has been drawn to my attention. The advert asks: "Do YOU want to be healthy, fit and strong enough to fight off infections easily?"
The product claims: "Revivo is a combination of herbs which contain various nutrients and active compounds that may support the immune system and strengthen the body in general.
"MAY"? Surely you the consumer can expect DOES! Why spend money on a product that "may"? And the product suggests that it may be effective against AIDS.
And what is the evidence that this product may work? Zero actually. On the page titled "Research" (http://revivotea.com/research) pseudoscientific arguments are used to give the product a sense of respectability – but let's be blunt, there is not a single study that has evaluated this combination of herbs, in these doses, for effectiveness in humans.
Certainly in the South African situation, doing a study like this without MCC permission is illegal.
The website also carries an advert from the radio station, Metro FM, with the byline "as heard about on Metro FM". It is unfathomable that a radio station will sell their soul by aiding and abetting the selling of a product with no proof of efficacy, which if convinces a user to avoid tested forms of therapy, may lead to that user's death. This sucks. If you have a lost a loved one because of this, I would recommend you contacting a lawyer and seeing whether you have a case for suing Metro FM.
This product also garnered some infamy: an advert for the product appeared on the ANC's Youth League website: "The 10 000 young people who visit the ANC Youth League's official website every month are seeing paid advertisements from a South African company selling a herbal product as a remedy for Aids."
If there was evidence that the product works, this company would have been able to convince the ASA and prevent a ruling against the claims for this product. They did not.
The ASA ruling follows.
Revivo Tea / P linzer / 13898
Ruling of the : ASA Directorate
In the matter between:
Mr Patrick Linzer Complainant(s)/Appellant(s)
Aconite Medical Suppliers cc Respondent
20 Aug 2009
http://www.asasa.org.za/ResultDetail.aspx?Ruling=4813
Mr Linzer lodged a consumer complaint against internet advertising originally appearing on www.herbalpharmacy.co.za, www.revivotea.co.za, and www.revivotea.com.
The websites promotes the respondent’s “Revivo Herbal Tea for HIV”. The website www.revivotea.com states, inter alia, as follows:
“27 Herbs were tested against the HIV virus in an independant (sic) laboratory in California and again in Hong Kong.
11 of them showed significant activity against the HIV virus.
5 of them destroyed more than 95% of the virus…the safest and most effective of these herbs are contained in Revivo.
Shouldnt you know more about Revivo then? Read more below:
Welcome to our website, we have developed Revivo based on extensive research into effective herbs for HIV, as well as the ancient wisdom of Chinese Herbal Medicine, which has been treating HIV and AIDS successfully even before HIV and AIDS was recognised. One of the research studies we used to select the herbs that go into Revivo is the study mentioned above, …
In the study, researchers took 27 herbs which are commonly used in Chinese Herbal Medicine for HIV. These herbs were all individually prepared into a ‘decoction’ and the HIV virus was added to the mixture, upon contact 5 of the herbs almost completely destroyed the virus and 6 others had significant activity against the virus. Of the herbs, some of the best acting herbs which are also safe to use were Prunella Vulgaris, Arctium Lappa, and Nelumbo Nucifera which are all contained in Revivo”.
Since the start of the Directorate’s investigation, the www.herbalpharmacy.co.za and www.revivotea.co.za websites have been deactivated.
COMPLAINT
In essence, the complainant submitted that the HIV-related claims are clearly in breach of Appendix F of the ASA Code. The complainant added that the claims made in relation to this product’s research, abilities and possibilities as far as HIV is concerned are misleading and unsubstantiated. Some of the claims specifically referred to by the complainant are:
“we have developed Revivo based on extensive research into effective herbs for HIV, as well as the ancient wisdom of Chinese Herbal Medicine, which has been treating HIV and AIDS successfully even before HIV and AIDS was recognised”;
“it is the culmination of only the best methods of herbal supplementation for HIV and the ingredients of the formula acting synergistically have proved itself to be better than any of the herbs taken individually”;
“…herbs in Revivo are designed to stop this hidden heat and replenish what is already consumed, that is why so many people are benefitting from using Revivo, irrespective of what stage of HIV they are in”.
RELEVANT CLAUSES OF THE CODE OF ADVERTISING PRACTICE
In light of the new submissions the following clauses of the Code were taken into account:
• Section II, Clause 4.1 – Substantiation
• Section II, Clause 4.2.1 – Misleading claims
In addition to this, the complainant also submitted that these claims are in contravention of Clause 2 of Appendix F.
RESPONSE
The respondent submitted, inter alia, that endeavours to be as honest as possible in its communication, and takes complaints of this nature very seriously. It also confirmed that the www.revivotea.co.za and www.herbalpharmacy.co.za websites were originally administered by third parties. It has, however, decided to close these websites permanently, and manage its online advertising in-house, via the www.revivotea.com website.
On the merits, it argued that its advertising is very clear in that the product is not marketed as a medicine or cure for HIV or AIDS. It also referred to certain aspects of its website it believes adequately clarifies and contextualises the claims objected to.
It added that the reference to “…which has been treating HIV and AIDS successfully even before HIV and AIDS was recognised” has been amended to read “…which has been treating the symptoms and underlying Chinese herbal pattern of HIV and AIDS successfully even before HIV and AIDS was recognised”.
It also referred the Directorate to research available on its website, and added that there is a wealth of evidence that is freely available that shows that Chinese Medicine has been treating the presenting symptoms that appear in HIV and AIDS for a long time.
ASA DIRECTORATE RULING
The ASA Directorate considered all the relevant documentation submitted by the respective parties.
Terminated websites
The ASA has a long standing principle which holds that where an advertiser provides an unequivocal undertaking to withdraw or amend its advertising in a manner that addresses the concerns raised, that undertaking is accepted without considering the merits of the matter.
The respondent confirmed that it has permanently closed the www.revivotea.co.za and www.herbalpharmacy.co.za websites.
This undertaking addresses the concerns as far as these websites are concerned, and is therefore accepted on condition that they are not used again in future.
Merits
Clause 4.1 of Section II requires advertisers to submit verification from independent, credible experts in the field to which the claims relate, to show that the claims made for the product are adequately supported. In addition, it is trite that the Directorate does not accept ingredient-based substantiation, as there is always a potential concern that ingredients may contra-indicate each other. As such, substantiation has to verify that the claims apply to the product as a whole when used at the recommended dose.
Despite arguing the interpretation and merits, the respondent has submitted no independent verification from a credible expert in this field to show that its product, as a whoe, has any effect on HIV and AIDS.
Accordingly, the respondent’s advertising is in contravention of Clause 4.1 of Section II of the Code.
In addition to the above, however, the Directorate draws specific attention to the provisions of Appendix F.
Clause 2 of Appendix F states as follows:
“Advertisements should note make any recommendations or offer products, treatments, or advice for any of the following illnesses or conditions unless –
2.1 the recommendations accord with full product registration by the MCC; or
2.2 such advertising is an educational or information campaign addressed to the lay public by Government Institutions or bodies recognised by the ASA to run such campaigns; or
2.3 the advertising is for products not registerable with the MCC in which case the advertising is subject to the normal provisions of the Code of Advertising Practice”.
The only condition listed in this part of the appendix is “AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)”. Accordingly, unless the above criteria are met, no advertiser may make any recommendation, offer any product, or treatment or advice for AIDS.
The respondent has not provided any proof that its product, claims, references or recommendations “accord with full product registration by the MCC”. There is also no basis to believe that the respondent’s advertising is “an educational or information campaign”. Finally, the respondent has submitted nothing to show that its product is “not registerable with the MCC”.
Given the above, the respondent’s advertising is currently also in contravention of Clause 2 of Appendix F.
The respondent is therefore required to:
Withdraw the advertising complained of in its current format;
The process of withdrawing this advertising must be actioned with immediate effect;
The process of withdrawing the advertising must be completed within the deadlines stipulated in Clause 15.3 of the Procedural Guide; and
The advertising may not be used again in its current format in future.
The complaint is upheld.
Read more about AIDS scams and unsubstantiated products at the TAC (Treatment Action Campaign) blog and product database: http://quackdown.tac.org.za/quackdown/claims/
4 comments
1NickG { 02.28.11 at 2:43 pm }
I just searched on 'HIV special interest group' on google.co.za, and this was the first of the Ads that appeared in the far-right column of my browser:
Are YOU HIV+?
These Are The Herbs The Greedy AIDS
Industry Doesn't Want You To Know!
revivotea.com
I followed the link and was shocked by the website – I'm glad to see that Revivo have been noticed by sites such as yours. Thank you….
Nick
2Indra de Lanerolle { 05.31.11 at 10:14 am }
Harris
I only just found your site and your story on revivotea. You may be interested in my blog at indradelanerolle.blogspot.com that recounts my recent experience in trying to get the google ad for revivotea removed. I succeeded through contacting Google and the Times (the website where I saw the ad). My complaint to the ASA is still pending.
Indra
3Harris { 05.31.11 at 7:36 pm }
Thanks Indra, this is great news, and I appreciate you explaining the process to readers and consumers at http://indradelanerolle.blogspot.com/
See the light Adwords and Revivo Tea: episode three (featuring Nicholas Sarkosy)
The story so far: last week I found an ad I objected to on the website of a leading South African media group. The ad promoted a herbal concoction which, according to testimonials on the website the ad linked to, could be sued to treat the symptoms of AIDS. The ad had been served by Google's AdWords. I then complained to AVUSA, the owners of the site I saw the ad on, Google, who served the ad and to the South African Advertising Standards Authority. This week I learnt that mine was not the first complaint and that the Advertising Standards Authority had acted on a complaint from a Patrick Linzer in 2009. Today I can report some responses. I have learnt that Google has removed the ad. Avusa have also blocked the ad. And I have received an acknowledgement of my complaint from the ASA.
The lesson? Well complaining to 'old' and 'new' media companies seems to have worked pretty well in this case. Whether the ('old' media) self-regulatory system (the Advertising Standards Authority) is working for new media is another question. We will see. There's a lot at stake in this. Yesterday, the French President spoke in Paris to an audience including Mark Zukerberg, Rupert Murdoch and Eric Schmidt about Internet regulation. He said: "The world you represent is not a parallel universe where legal and moral rules and, more generally, all the basic rules that govern society in democratic countries do not apply." But he also acknowledged that national regulation does not work (see this week's story of Ryan Gigg's 'superinjunction' to see just how it doesn't). I agree with the Open Right's Group's Jim Killock that "The idea that the internet resembles a 'wild west' is nonsense," but the Internet does undermine the ecology of national law and regulation and self-regulation that has managed and controlled 'oild' mass media. As online citizens our interests will not always be aligned with those of global Internet businesses or of national governments. Finding ways of influencing how a new ecology develops will be an increasing challenge in the next few years.