Can Rosadyn live up to the hype?

Can Rosadyn live up to the hype?

We've been asked for our opinion of Rosadyn, the supplement Geoffrey Nase is selling. That's a hard question because we don't like to judge any treatment without seeing genuine user reports and independent test results. However, we understand the concern being expressed online because Nase has hyped many products and repeatedly failed to deliver on his promises.

In the face of failures such as the Quarterly Reports and Super Board (with 7,000+ members and dozens of experts) eternally promised as "coming soon" from 2001 and 2005 respectively, the rosacea community has developed a high degree of cynicism towards Nase's offerings. That has also extended to the promotion of wonder treatments he has talked-up, most of which flopped or never saw the light of day.

Who can forget the massively over-hyped G-protein modifiers and Nase's claims that a single 10-minute treatment had turned his alter-ego 'Maria Cappolla' "100% white" after "25 years plus beet red" and eliminated all of her triggers for up to 9 months? What about G-Protein modifiers? In October 2006, Nase wrote that the treatment would shortly be made available to patients at Dr. Nielson's RTIT in the special Rosacea Wing that was constantly being delayed.

If G-protein modifiers really could work such miracles, how much call would there be for expensive rosacea care products needing to be used on a daily basis? For that reason alone, it seemed surprising when Nase announced on his website in October 2008 that he was working on a range of advanced oral and topical rosacea products, starting with the world's "1st pharmaceutical-grade nutraceutical designed specifically for rosacea sufferers" that would "reverse the deep underlying pathology of rosacea", etc. Could any OTC be powerful enough to achieve that?

Five months later, immediately before the scheduled release date, it was discovered that Nase's supposedly unique blend of ingredients was an identical match for Ultra Maritime Pine 120s, an antioxidant-rich general health tonic the Utah-based manufacturers Suvida Inc. had been selling for quite some time. Challenged by readers of the small Topix rosacea board, Nase announced that he was just about to incorporate two new ingredients, which quickly became "7 new ingredients and three of the new medicinal extracts where added in the last 45 days". The new version of Rosadyn was now "80% different" from Suvida's product.

http://www.topix.com/forum/health/rosacea/TD5FDO06BCFRUMDVR

Trustworthy Testimonials?

It is hard to place any reliance on the initial testimonies for Rosadyn. The first 'trial candidate' told Topix in March that he was in remission, but wasn't that from the Suvida version? An After photo on the Rosadyn website was, as one Topix poster pointed out, so "completely washed out with light" compared with the Before photo that the woman's light brown hair had turned blonde.

The second person to come forward was 'Joseph B.', who wrote that after just 5 weeks of taking Rosadyn, his wife had experienced an incredible reduction in flushing. When 'Joseph B.' chose a lion for his avatar the Topix computer copied it to Nase's own board profile, set up last November, as if the computer recognized the posts as coming from the same user. His critics had a field day.

http://www.topix.com/forum/health/rosacea/TENMVMNHJ4RFOGIAH

Their scepticism brought from 'Joseph B.' exactly the kind of response detailed in our article Yo, Homies! More Farcical Personalities Crowd In, where a character who denies being Nase suddenly pours out streams of Nase-like phrases and displays a knowledge of Nase's history far beyond that available to any genuine newcomer.

The title of the article came from one of the weirdest incarnations of the phenomenon. That was Jordan B. of Seattle, who turned up at the Rosacea Forum in November 2007 as 'jmb212121', a wannabe-rapper defending his "homie dr nase". Jordan vanished when inconsistencies in his story led to accusations that he had also been 'Rosie' and 'Corvette', characters banned from the ESFB board for promoting Nase's then employer, Dr. Nielson's RTIT.

At Topix, a flood of new characters popped up to proclaim their brilliant success in the California trials for Rosadyn. Mocked as "The International Brotherhood of Rosadyn Testers" because several signed as posting from China, the UK and Ireland, some of the voices also sounded uncannily like Nase. Again, Jordan B. of Seattle featured. After putting a testimonial on the Rosadyn website, he posted at Topix under the name 'Seattle Rosadyn'. However, in the rush of putting dozens of messages on the board, someone slipped and signed-off as Jordan on a message posted by 'Atlanta Rosadyn', who had been signing 'Carl M.'.

http://www.topix.com/forum/health/rosacea/TTBO2R1NE48ULA9P5/p3 especially posts #50, 55

http://www.rosadyn.com/testimonials.html

The FDA and Rosadyn

Although Nase appeared to be claiming that he had been in remission for 8 years thanks to the key ingredients incorporated into 'old Rosadyn' (Suvida's Ultra Maritime Pine 120s he had reportedly been about to relabel), Nase extended the claim to 'new Rosadyn'. That was astonishing, when the old product had only three of the same ingredients and didn't include the new main active ingredient, a broccoli extract called BroccoRaphanin. (see Scrubs Photo discussion in our article Improbable Potions Hard to Swallow)

At Topix, Nase has put up many posts declaring that 'new Rosadyn' is comparable in its effects to prescription medications, despite being an OTC. This seemed improbable, given that as one genuine rosacean noted, nothing in the list of ingredients seemed likely to bring about the striking and immediate effects reported in the testimonials. However, it was similar to claims Nase has had on his website about Rosadyn having "real pharmacological and physiological actions".

To counter calls for Nase to be reported to the FDA's internet fraud section for making grossly misleading and unsupported claims, a new character called 'Rosadyn Tester' announced at Topix that "a Dermatologist on the FDA has been reviewing Rosadyn from step 1 and giving input on each phase of the pilot study".

http://www.topix.com/forum/health/rosacea/TTBO2R1NE48ULA9P5

That is an unbelievable claim. With all the demands on their resources, why would the FDA give such unique attention to a routine vitamin supplement being developed as a first product by an unknown little company? Why would they give Nase's supplement such a tremendous boost over any competing product? We wonder what the FDA will have to say about their name being invoked in this way, especially given Nase's track record.

For the sake of rosaceans everywhere, we hope Rosadyn can live up to Nase's promises. It is also to be hoped that the full money-back guarantee will be honored. Several people dissatisfied with Nase's consultancy service have made complaints about the non-payment of promised refunds even years later. To restate our position, we are in favour of any rosacea treatment that genuinely helps sufferers, provided it is honestly promoted and sold. For that reason, we look forward to hearing how users get on with Rosadyn.

In the meantime, we will sit back quietly and wait to see what eventuates. We won't make any attempt to initiate contact with Nase's business partners or to seek out people who are using the product or posting about it. We don't do that. Contrary to Nase's obsessive and absurd claims, neither Peter Waters nor any of the other people posting at Topix are Debunkers. No one represents us there or anywhere else. We stick to our site and that will continue.