Brain-training game maker settles with
U.S. FTC over unsupported claims
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[January 21, 2015]
By Christina Farr
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A Texas company
that makes brain-training games for children has settled a complaint
over unsubstantiated health claims, the U.S. government said on Tuesday.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Focus Education claimed in an
advertisement and on its website that it could permanently improve a
child's focus, memory and school performance. The company also said
its technology had proven to be "highly beneficial" for children
with learning impairments such as attention deficit hyperactivity
disorder (ADHD).
In a statement, the FTC said the company must stop making such
claims for products including the Jungle Rangers computer game.
The FTC said Focus Education generated sales of some $4.5 million
between 2012 and mid-2013.
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Focus Education did not respond to an email request for comment.
It stressed on its website that its game was developed through a
collaboration of scientists, researchers, doctors and parents.
The case was among the first in which the commission has cracked
down on an application developer for making unsubstantiated medical
claims. Previously, the FTC fined two app developers who falsely
claimed that their smartphone apps could treat and cure acne.
Some industry experts believe the FTC will increasingly become the
watchdog for the fertile field of mobile health.
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"We could well see FTC taking the primary enforcement role," said
Bradley Merrill Thompson, a Washington D.C.-based attorney with the
firm Epstein Becker & Green. That the FTC took action, rather than
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, represents an important
shift, Thompson added.
To avoid federal oversight, app makers should be "precise, accurate
and careful" with their marketing claims, said Morgan Reed,
executive director of the Association for Competitive Technology, an
organization that represents app developers.
(Reporting By Christina Farr; Editing by Ken Wills)
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