Laser therapy is not proven to aid smoking cessation as some companies are advertising, according to Washington, D.C. watchdog group Public Citizen, the Las Vegas Sun reported on July 14. 

Five laser therapy providers must be stopped from 'illegally promoting low-power laser therapy for smoking cessation,' Public Citizen stated in a petition filed to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The most prominent offender was Freedom Laser Therapy of Santa Monica, Calif., which either exaggerated or fabricated the success rates and clinical trials mentioned on its website, claimed Public Citizen.

Laser therapy is no more effective than a placebo for smoking cessation, according to a study cited by the watchdog group.

Advertising smoking cessation and laser therapy together establishes a link that has not been clinically verified and is therefore is forbidden by the FDA, said Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen.

The promotion of laser therapy, which can cost as much as $400, may even hinder smokers from seeking treatment that actually has been proven to be effective, said Wolfe.

Laser therapy, or laser acupuncture, stimulates nerve endings so that the body produces endorphins, which relieve pain and elevate mood.

'Laser therapy takes away the physical pain of withdrawal,' said Nancy Monaco, the owner of New Beginnings Laser Therapy of Las Vegas, Nev., another company named in the petition. 'The therapy is approved (by the FDA) to treat temporary pain.'

Wolfe said the problem is that the companies have been marketing themselves as smoking cessation centers, not pain treatment clinics.

'It's illegal. They can't market in this way. End of story,' said Wolfe.