Several years ago, the NBC newsmagazine Dateline investigated infomercials and found out that doctor endorsements were considered a standard part of the package delivered by infomercial producers. More recently, Jon Marshall, D.O., was the face of Hydroxycut products, which were recently pulled from the market. Since then, he has been difficult to find by reporters seeking interviews.
Dr. Dave David has been doing product endorsements since 1992. He currently has a cosmetic surgery practice in the Boston area, and he is a member of the AMA and the Massachusetts Medical Society. When asked if he knew about AMA policy on physician endorsements and he said no.
The AMA says doctors should only endorse products that they use, and allows payment only if the infomercial or advertisement clearly and prominently states that the doctor was paid to endorse the product.