Open Label Media
Report It
Saw a health claim that was selling you something? Here is where to send it, so it reaches people who can act on it.
Being wrong online isn’t illegal. Selling with false claims can be.
This page is for commercial claims: products, paid posts, fake reviews, and things sold to you with promises they can’t back up. If someone is simply wrong about health, that is a conversation, not a complaint. There is help for that too, at the bottom of this list.
If someone is hurt right now, call 911. For a possible poisoning or a bad reaction to a product, call Poison Control at 1‑800‑222‑1222. Report later.
What happened?
Pick the one that fits. Each opens with where to report and what to do first.
1Someone sold a product with false or unproven health claims
Think “cures,” “reverses,” “detoxes,” or “doctors don’t want you to know,” attached to something with a price.
- Report it to the Federal Trade Commission at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC polices deceptive advertising, including health claims.
- Report it to your state’s consumer protection office. Find your state below.
- If the product claims to treat, cure, or prevent a disease, also tell the FDA through its Report a Problem page.
2An influencer didn’t say they were paid
Free products, affiliate links and discount codes that earn them a cut, and paid “ambassador” deals all count as a connection that has to be disclosed. The FTC says the disclosure has to be hard to miss and sit with the post itself. A hidden #ad buried in a pile of hashtags, or “sp” and “collab,” is not enough.
- Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- Use the platform’s own Report option on the post.
- Creators: read the FTC’s plain guide, Disclosures 101 for Social Media Influencers.
Doctors’ payments from drug and device companies are public in the Open Payments database. There is no database like that for influencers. The disclosure in the post is all you get.
3The reviews or testimonials look fake
Made up reviews, paid reviews that pretend to be independent, and bought followers can all break FTC rules.
- Report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
- Report the review or account on the platform where you saw it.
4A product hurt you or someone you know
- Tell your doctor or pharmacist first. They may need to know, and they can help you report.
- Report the reaction to the FDA through MedWatch. It covers medicines, medical devices, cosmetics, and many other products.
- For a dietary supplement, stop using it and report through the FDA’s Safety Reporting Portal.
- For a vaccine, report through VAERS, the national vaccine safety reporting system.
These reports feed the safety monitoring that keeps going after a product reaches shelves. One report is not proof the product caused the problem. Many reports together are how patterns get spotted.
5Someone is selling prescription drugs or unapproved medical products online
Prescription drugs without a prescription, injectable “research use only” products sold for people, and pills claiming to be approved medicines when they aren’t.
- Report the website or seller to the FDA through its Report a Problem page.
- Report the account or listing on the platform.
6Someone is just wrong about health online
No product, no payment, just a claim. In the United States, that is protected speech, and no agency will take a complaint about it. That is on purpose: whoever gets to decide what counts as “misinformation” can change with every election.
- If the post breaks the platform’s own rules, you can report it there.
- If it’s someone you love, start with a question, not a correction. The Take Back Skepticism page shows how.
- Send the claim to Root to Rx, where a clinical researcher walks through what the evidence actually says.
Before you report, save this
What happens after you report
Most agencies don’t resolve individual complaints. They use reports to spot patterns and build cases, and the FTC shares reports with law enforcement partners. One report can feel small. It is often the reason a case gets opened.
During a federal government shutdown, ReportFraud.ftc.gov can go offline. Your state office still takes complaints.
Find your state’s consumer protection office
In most states this is the attorney general. In some it is another agency, like Florida’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. List from USA.gov.
States and the District of Columbia
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- District of Columbia
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
U.S. territories
Want to understand the claim first?
Root to Rx runs health claims through the Skeptic’s Toolkit every week, in plain talk, so you can see what the evidence says and decide for yourself.
Open Label Media does not collect, store, or forward reports. Every link on this page goes to an official office or a platform. This page is general information, not legal advice. Links checked November 2026.
