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Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

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Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#181
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The worst that can happen to a good small company is that some overhyped and overfunded 'start-up' enters the field and spoils the trust built slowly and over a long time between the consumers and the suppliers of goods and services. This is unfortunately not rare at all and the 'hotter' a market seems the more of these BS artists will enter. In the end you have the same product and the same relationship with your cu…

This is actually a form of corporate sabotage some companies use. You'll find it interesting to read about Coca Cola's Tab Clear[1]. Basically, Pepsi introduced a soda called Crystal Clear that was gaining momentum in the "clear soda" market. Coke wanted to sabotage the public perception, so they introduced "Tab Clear" and made it taste so terrible, that both products failed within 6 months. After that, no one wanted…

It seems much more likely that it was simply a poorly conceived and poorly marketed product.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#182
post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you do that's different?

A different claim, same bullshit "science". " According to the CDC one in five Americans have ADHD, anxiety, or depression. Impacting productivity, focus, and mood. We can help, with ThinkSuite!" Chemicals can't even help me, how would ThinkSuite? If I could cure this crap with a site, I would, but we can't.

> Chemicals can't even help me, how would ThinkSuite?

That doesn't follow. Drugs aren't automatically better or more effective than non-drug therapies.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#184
post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have ADHD. I'm fully aware of my impulse control issues. Identifying bad practices is NOT treatment.

Are you seeking help? If not, I suggest seeing a psychiatrist - they have the most experience, much more so than general practitioners.

Appreciate you asking, and great advise - I am :-) actually, when I was younger my parents sought help early for me, and through some of the best specialists in the field. Then for a decade and a half I went it along, and whilst I did ok, overall I think I struggled so I'm getting professional medical help, as well as seeing a professional life coach experienced in helping people with ADHD.

It's been good overall!

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#185

Great article on this trend of investors/entrepreneurs with no scientific background thinking they can get into the space and "shake things up": Silicon Valley is confusing pseudo-science with innovation [0] > I don’t think all the VC firms that are moving into the space know what they’re doing — so I think you only need a couple of nasty failures to get them to pull back. Take Pathway Genomics, for instance, which w…

I don't know much about Stemcentrx - why do you think they will fail? Their science page sounds reasonable; antibody-drug conjugates don't seem far-fetched and I don't think they're the only ones pursuing that therapeutic paradigm.

Stemcentrx must be doing something unique as they were recently named the best new drug developer at the recent antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) Summit in San Diego, and have been the topic of some flattering press about their lead compound (http://www.firstwordpharma.com/node/1319074?tsid=28#axzz3nF0...).

Other presentations showing clinical activity are also below:

http://player.meta-fusion.com/late-breaking-abstract-safety-...

http://player.meta-fusion.com/late-breaking-abstract-a-phase...

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#186

The way I see it, they tapped into a widely held belief , rather than fears. It is a popular belief that doing mental work staves off cognitive decline (including age-related). I bet you that everyone at Lumosity actually believes it because their mother told them that when they were kids. My wife (Japanese) always says "good for older people" about any sort of puzzle. She didn't get this from being deceived by Lumos…

The FTC went after POM Wonderful for overstating the health benefits of their pomegranate juice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POM_Wonderful

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#187
post #15

Dual n-back, coffee, LSD. All things people swear make you smarter. Coffee has proven to make brain work better. But it's only temporary. LSD...well, I've never tried it, but people swear by it. Not sure if scientists would be allowed to try it on test cases.

Maybe wiser, not smarter.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#188

Great article on this trend of investors/entrepreneurs with no scientific background thinking they can get into the space and "shake things up": Silicon Valley is confusing pseudo-science with innovation [0] > I don’t think all the VC firms that are moving into the space know what they’re doing — so I think you only need a couple of nasty failures to get them to pull back. Take Pathway Genomics, for instance, which w…

I don't know much about Stemcentrx - why do you think they will fail? Their science page sounds reasonable; antibody-drug conjugates don't seem far-fetched and I don't think they're the only ones pursuing that therapeutic paradigm.

Lumping Stemcentrx in with the others is extremely ill reasoned imo. The most basic of google searches show some pretty impressive stuff being done there.

http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/7/302/302ra136 http://www.esmo.org/Conferences/Past-Conferences/European-Ca...

While the second link is only phase 1, those are some impressive numbers.

Finally, their clinical trials page (http://stemcentrx.com/clinical-trials.html) shows two Pfizer collaborations, pretty sure Pfizer has a pretty good pulse on these things.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Supplements industry lobbied congress to pass a law exempting them from FDA regulation.

Sure -- but Lumosity can't be prosecuted under FDA regulation, unless the scope of "food and drugs" has undergone some fairly significant expansion. I assume supplements are still subject to the FTC . There is no plausible argument that it's fine to make unsubstantiated health-related claims in order to sell your edible product that is intended to be bioactive , but not in order to sell your video games. In terms of…

I agree. But it's about politics, lobbyists, and money.

Re: Lumosity fined $2M for deceptive ads of “Brain Training” app

#190

I just wanted to share my thoughts, which are simply: "Thank God!" I've been working on a startup: http://synaptitude.me/ (demo is old) Essentially, we can do some of what Luminosity claims (and have independent studies to prove it). Every time someone goes: "Oh it's just like Lumosity" I have to go through and explain the difference. My wife has a degree in neuroscience and I minored in BioE, and we both just HATE L…

Yeah you're no different.
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