Charlotte woman peddled fake COVID cure until she sold to an undercover agent, feds say
A south Charlotte woman faces an August court hearing after federal investigators charged her with peddling a fake COVID-19 cure during the height of the pandemic.
Diana Daffin, the 68-year-old owner of a holistic health business, was arrested outside her south Charlotte home in May after the Food and Drug Administration accused her of shipping the supposed remedy drug HAMPL to an undercover agent in New Hampshire, according to an FDA news release at the time.
On June 4, a magistrate judge in U.S. District Court in Concord, N.H., ruled that Daffin could remain free until another hearing in August, according to court records reviewed by The Charlotte Observer.
According to a criminal complaint, the FDA first warned Daffin and the drug’s Australian manufacturer in April 2020 that she was selling “an adulterated, misbranded, and unapproved drug” and should take “immediate action to correct the violation,” according to the FDA release.
Daffin, owner of Savvy Holisti Health, told the FDA she removed the product from her website, according to the FDA release. But Daffin continued selling unapproved HAMPL brand drugs even after the FDA warned her again in August 2020, prosecutors said in the complaint.
Daffin again told the FDA she would close the product line and website, according to the complaint, but she didn’t.
Daffin could not be reached by the Observer on Wednesday.
The label on the container of the drug she sent to the undercover agent said the drug gave “a stronger immunity against CV” and promised “Immunity for Humans,” according to the complaint.
This story was originally published June 9, 2021 at 4:36 PM.