For more than two decades, Australia’s Advanced Medical Institute offered false hope to men suffering from erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation. A network of clinics with a strong online presence, AMI said its nasal sprays, lozenges, transdermal patches, and injectables were superior in some respects to better known products such as Viagra, Cialis, and Levitra. By bypassing the gastrointestinal tract, claimed AMI, its products were unaffected by food intake and thus more reliable and faster acting.
AMI’s house of cards came crashing down in 2015 when a federal court judge in Melbourne found “no proper scientific evidence” to support the company’s claims for its line of products said to combat sexual dysfunction. AMI, the brainchild of Australian entrepreneur Jacov Vaisman, had flirted with controversy for several years before the 2015 court ruling and had been disciplined in 2010 by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for unethical medical practices.
Sales Techniques Called ‘Unconscionable’
In his 2015 ruling against AMI, Federal Court Judge Tony North charged that the company had used “unconscionable” sales techniques to pressure prospective clients into buying its products and treatment programs. “Sales people used high-pressure selling techniques by telling men that their penis would shrink and they would suffer psychological impotence if they did not agree to the treatment,” said the judge.
Readers of this blog who are tempted to ask what, if anything, this has to do with them should not overlook the lesson implicit in the AMI scam and the millions spent by vulnerable customers willing to put their trust — and cash — in AMI’s promises. Regardless of where they might live in the world, men who are reticent to talk to doctors about sensitive sexual matters all too often fall prey to such scams that promise an easy fix to serious sexual health problems as ED and premature ejaculation, or PE.
Questionable ED Treatments Abound
The Internet is awash in advertisements for ED and PE cures that claim to be not only inexpensive but also superior to the more widely known treatments available for these types of sexual dysfunction. It can be difficult to resist the temptation to try one or more of these miracle treatments, particularly given their attractive price point. Here, as in all things, consumers need to be extra cautious. If an offer sounds too good to be true, in all likelihood it is neither good nor true.
In the wake of the Australian federal court’s ruling against AMI and its founder, Vaisman and his former companies filed appeals, all of which were eventually rejected. By early 2018, Vaisman was forced into bankruptcy after he said he was unable to pay the A$3.6 million in court costs charged to him as a result of the ACCC’s successful 2010 prosecution.
Sydney Newspaper Investigates
AMI’s shoddy and unethical business practices also caught the attention of the Sydney Morning Herald, which launched an investigation into the company’s operations. The newspaper reported that nonmedical staff at AMI were giving medical advice over the phone and also that AMI sales personnel were illegally taking up to A$5,000 out of customer credit cards.
According to the newspaper, a whistleblower who worked as a doctor at AMI for two years said the company’s staff neglected to tell patients of potentially dangerous side effects associated with AMI products. At the same time customers were charged thousands of dollars for treatments there were often ineffective.
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