Relax-A-Cizor

The Relax-A-Cizor was an electrical muscle stimulation device manufactured by the U.S. company Relaxacizor, Inc..[1][2][3][4][5][6]

From the 1950s, the company marketed the device for use in weight loss and fitness. Electrodes from the device were attached to the skin and caused muscle contractions by way of electrical currents.[1] The device caused 40 muscular contractions per minute in the muscles affected by the motor nerve points in the area of each pad. The directions for use recommended use of the device at least 30 minutes daily for each figure placement area, and suggested that the user might use it for longer periods if they wished. The device was offered in a number of different models which were powered either by battery or household current.[7]

Relax-A-Cizors had from 1 to 6 channels. Two pads (or electrodes) were connected by wires to each channel. The user applied from 2 to 12 pads to various parts of their body. For each channel there was a dial which purported to control the intensity of the electrical current flowing into the user's body between the two pads connected to that channel.[7]

As of 1970, the device was manufactured in Chicago, Illinois, by Eastwood Industries, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Relaxacizor, Inc., and was then distributed throughout the country at the direction of Relaxacizor, Inc., or Relaxacizor Sales, Inc.[7]

The device was banned by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1970 as it was deemed to be potentially unhealthy and dangerous to the users..[1][7] The case went to court, and the United States District Court for the Central District of California held that the Relax-A-Cizor was a "device" within the meaning of 21 U.S.C. § 321 (h) because it was intended to affect the structure and functions of the body as a girth reducer and exerciser, and upheld the FDA's assertions that the device was potentially hazardous to health.[7]

The FDA informed owners of Relax-A-Cizors that second-hand sale of Relax-A-Cizors was illegal, and recommended that they should destroy the devices or render them inoperable.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Kate Knibbs. "The Fitness Wearable So Dangerous It Was Supposed to Be Destroyed". Gizmodo. Gawker Media. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  2. ↑ "April 29, 1970 - 400,000 Buyers Can Be Wrong". Archives.chicagotribune.com. 1970-04-29. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  3. ↑ "That Was Then, This Is Now: How 72 Brands From 'Mad Men' Have Changed Since Don Draper Was In Charge". Consumerist. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  4. ↑ "Ms. and the Material Girls". Google.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  5. 1 2 "The Relaxacisor". Museumofquackery.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  6. ↑ ""Cellulite" Removers". Quackwatch.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 "United States v. Relaxacizor, Inc., 340 F. Supp. 943 - Dist. Court, CD California 1970". Scholar.goog.com. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/12/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.