Two Indicted for Touting Powdered Egg Yolks as "Magic Bullet" for Rheumatoid Arthritis

A poultry researcher and a plastic surgeon have been indicted for marketing powdered egg yolks as a "magic bullet" to boost immunity in diseases such as arthritis.

The 26-count indictment charges that Marilyn Coleman and Dr. Mitchell Kaminski of Niles, Illinois and their company Ovlmmune Inc. were conspiring to commit mail fraud and distribute an unapproved and misbranded drug with intent to defraud. By law, a food supplement becomes a drug when it is marketed as a treatment for a disease, and then must go through a complex approval process with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The charges carry maximum five-year jail terms.

Ovlmmune's Web site contained various therapeutic claims about the powdered egg yolk. Examples of the claims, cited by the FDA in a warning letter sent to the company in July 2002, include: "Now specially produced eggs can replace the immunity lost during these diseases and ameliorate the effects of routine infections."

Coleman sold the egg yolk powder to undercover agents, according to the indictment. One agent bought $200 worth of the powder for his rheumatoid arthritis and the other $25 worth to treat toenail fungus.

The indictment also claims Coleman and Kaminski contracted with a Seattle company to pay for an effectiveness study, but failed to report the results of the study which claimed the powder was ineffective.

A former distributor for Ovlmmune pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to distribute unapproved and misbranded drugs in interstate commerce. Raymond Suen, owner of For Your Health, Inc., faces up to three years in prison.

Other sources: FDA