Agora’s ‘Coronavirus Vaccine Survival Guide’

Publishing giant Agora aka Monument & Cathedral Holdings (M&C) has a simple goal: to get consumers, specifically seniors and retirees, to sign up for its subscriptions and purchase its supplements. A recent investigation by TINA.org shows that the company will pretty much say anything to accomplish this goal.

Take its “Coronavirus Vaccine Survival Guide.” In a video titled “One big vaccine fact you need to know,” the guide is said to contain information about “safe, alternative solutions [to the coronavirus vaccine] you simply will not hear about from Big Pharma or mainstream medicine.”

But the guide, which despite being marketed as “free” in the video requires the purchase of an annual subscription to a publication called Independent Healing (costing either $37 or $74), contains no such information. While it suggests that taking zinc and nasal rinsing can help prevent COVID-19, it also admits that neither treatment is scientifically substantiated or proven to work, stating that “zinc has not yet been tested in clinical trials against the coronavirus” and that “[n]asal irrigation is NOT a cure for COVID-19,” adding: “Nor is there clinical proof that it can prevent you from getting infected.” In fact, in a complete reversal of what the “One big vaccine fact” video says the book contains, the guide speaks glowingly of the coronavirus vaccine and “mainstream medical organizations.”

A vaccine is also our best hope to eliminate COVID-19. And for many of us—especially if we are over 65, are overweight, have diabetes, or have other risk factors—getting a vaccine may carry far less risk than remaining exposed to coronavirus. …We often disagree with mainstream medical organizations. But they likely will be the most reliable source for detailed information about vaccines.

However, at this point, consumers have already purchased the subscription to get the guide to learn about alternative remedies to prevent or treat COVID-19, which the guide fails to deliver. To the extent consumers delayed getting vaccinated so that they can read the guide, which is 34 pages, they put their health at risk.

TINA.org calls on FTC to reopen its Agora investigation

The “One big vaccine fact” video comes from the Institute of Natural Healing, which is a publication of OmniVista Health, an M&C company. It is one of more than 300 videos, transcripts, web posts, order pages and print materials marketed by numerous companies under the Agora umbrella that use deceptive marketing to trick seniors into purchasing products and programs in violation of a settlement order Agora entered into with the FTC earlier this year. Last week, TINA.org filed a complaint with the FTC over Agora’s continued targeting of seniors with deceptive income and health claims.

Read more about TINA.org’s investigative findings here.