AMHERST, NY (June 14, 2000)-On June 12, magnet therapy took another step into the mainstream footwear industry. Capitalizing on the success of its MagneForce golf shoes, Florsheim Group Inc. expanded the brand with a new series of magnetic-insole dress and walking shoes.
While the companies that make magnetic therapy products widely advertise
claims of pain relief and other health benefits, the scientific vidence to back these statements up is scanty. On its web site ( http://www.florsheim.com ), Florsheim lists a variety of health benefits attributed to magnets, including improved blood flow and internal pH balance, and the correction of "possible ... magnetic deficiency." Isolated studies, such as the Baylor College of Medicine clinical trial, indicate that magnets may relieve pain, but many others show that magnets do not reduce pain.
In particular, a study published in the January 1997 issue of the journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association showed no difference in pain relief between magnetic and non-magnetic insoles. On March 8, 2000, the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published a clinical trial that also failed to find any therapeutic effect in magnetic belts for back pain.
The caption to an illustration of the MagneForce insole on Florsheim's Web site describes a "unipolar magnet" in the MagneForce insole which "penetrates to a depth of two inches." The problem with this claim is that "unipolar" (magnetic monopole) magnets simply do not exist. All magnets have two poles.
Florsheim states that the MagneForce designers "were cautious at first, but worked extensively with Magnetherapy, Inc."-a Florida-based company that produces a Tectonic line of magnet therapy products. The shoe manufacturer cites testing by Tectonic and a report prepared by magnetherapy to vouch for its magnetic insoles.
In 1998 Texas Attorney General Dan Morales filed an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) against Magnetherapy, Inc. with the Dallas County State District Court. According to its press release, the Texas Office of the Attorney General required the company to "stop making claims that the magnets can cure, treat or mitigate any disease or that they can affect [sic.] any change in the human body" without approval from the FDA. The order also required the company to "withdraw false labeling and advertising from the marketplace within 120 days" and pay a 30,000-dollar penalty to the Office of the Attorney General to reimburse the state for legal and investigative fees.
Various ads claimed that Tectonic magnet therapy products would provide
relief from certain painful conditions and could restore range of motion to muscles and joints. The company had provided retailers with display packages that included health claims, written testimonials, and posters of sports stars.