| You’ve probably seen the commercials for Prevagen memory support capsules. Acoustic guitars underscore a relatable retiree explaining how, as the years go by, it was much harder to remember things. “I noticed I wasn’t as sharp as I used to be,” Mark from Vero Beach, Florida, explains. After his wife told him to try Prevagen, he says, “I felt like I was able to respond to things quicker.” Could that possibly be true? Prevagen’s active ingredient is apoaequorin, a calcium-binding protein found in jellyfish. Low calcium levels have been linked to cognitive decline. Prevagen’s advertised benefits trace back to a single placebo-controlled study in which people who got the supplement performed no better on a series of cognitive tests than those given capsules of rice flour. Quincy Bioscience, Prevagen’s manufacturer, conducted some after-the-fact computations and determined that in a subgroup of participants, taking the supplement appeared to boost scores on two of the nine tests. It’s the bedrock of Prevagen’s televised benefits. Or at least it was. Late last year, a federal court ruled that Quincy could no longer make certain claims in its advertising of Prevagen, including that the pill is “clinically shown to improve memory” and leads to “a sharper mind.” That follows a jury trial in which two of the claims were deemed “materially misleading.” For the nonprofit Truth in Advertising, it was a victory long in the making. The group spent a decade pressuring regulators to take action on Prevagen, warning that its manufacturer was preying on the fears of a vulnerable group of people. “There are health implications to this kind of deceptive marketing, not just financial ones,” says Bonnie Patten, Truth in Advertising’s executive director. “For seniors who want to maintain their independence, they may not want to admit they’re having memory issues. They’ll see something like this as a lifeline, and that might delay them getting the actual care and treatment they need.” Quincy says in a statement that it’s appealing the court’s ruling. The company has “gone above and beyond” federal regulations and “spent millions of dollars to develop Prevagen while adhering to the highest standards,” it says. — Damian Garde | 
