Prüvit Distributors, Co-Founder Making Illegal Health Claims

Ketones as the key to medical miracles? Multilevel marketing company Prüvit (pronounced prove-it), which sells products including nutritional shakes and supplements, would like to make you think so.

Ketones are byproducts of the body breaking down fat for energy that occur when carbohydrate intake is low. The keto diet, according to this Prüvit distributor, consists of 90 percent fat, 10 percent protein and 0 percent carbohydrates. Prüvit’s products supposedly help users achieve a state of “ketosis.”

But some Prüvit distributors, including the aforementioned, take the purported health benefits a step too far. Citing the power of ketones, these individuals claim that the Prüvit products can help treat everything from autism and ADD, to Parkinson’s, MS, diabetes and cancer. Here are a few examples spread across social media:

It’s not just distributors disseminating illegal disease-treatment claims. In fact, if you look closely at the first Facebook post in the gallery above, you’ll see that the autism testimonial was shared by Rob DeBoer, a co-founder of Prüvit, according to his LinkedIn page. “If you know ANYONE who is a parent of an autistic child, we can help. Almost immediately. Reach out!!!” DeBoer writes. Fun fact about DeBoer: In 2012, he was ordered to pay $150,000 as one of the defendants in the FTC’s case against BurnLounge, which the agency determined was operating an illegal pyramid scheme.

With his new company, DeBoer seems to have flawlessly made the transition from making illegal income claims to making illegal health claims. Further evidence of this can be found in this video on the Prüvit company website, which ties its products to the treatment of Alzheimer’s and cancer:

Even implied health claims, with the formula seen here — “ingredient Y helps cure disease X and our products contain ingredient Y” — are a no-no for supplement makers. And the disclaimer at the very end of the video, which states that these statements have not been assessed by the FDA, doesn’t right the wrong.

Remember, marketing supplements as having the ability to treat, cure, alleviate the symptoms of, or prevent developing diseases and disorders is simply not permitted by law. If a supplement really could do all that, then it would be a drug subject to rigorous study and testing to gain FDA approval.

Find more of our coverage on MLMs and illegal health claims here.

UPDATE: Following the publication of this ad alert, DeBoer’s position with Prüvit on his LinkedIn profile was changed from co-founder to independent promoter.