It appears that the US Federal Trade Commission isn’t too pleased with a couple of mobile apps that claim to cure acne and as such have slapped the offending apps and had them removed from both the Apple App Store and Android Market due to making false claims about the software’s curing ability.

According to an article over on 9to5 Mac by way of Computer World, FTC chairman John Leibowitz has stated “When it comes to curing acne, there’s no app for that,” and is apparently the first ever action against “overblown health claims by mobile apps.”

The ruling by the Federal Trade Commission puts apps that claim to cure acne out of business, mobile apps such as AcenApp for the iPhone and Acne Pwner for Android, both of which have now been removed from their respective app stores.

Apparently both apps claimed, “they treated blemishes and pimples with colored light produced by smartphones,” with users being advised to hold the handset display against the area that needed treating for a few minutes daily.

The Acne Pwner for Android app costing $0.99 has been downloaded roughly 3,300 times while AcneApp for iPhone costing $1.99 has been downloaded about 11,600 times.

Apparently the developers of said offending apps have been fined by the FTC, the developers of the AcneApp for iPhone, one of which is a dermatologist had to hand over $14,294 while the developer of Acne Pwner for Android was hit for $1700 and both have been barred from making acne treatment claims.

The marketers of the AcneApp for iPhone claimed, “This app was developed by a dermatologist. A study published by the British Journal of Dermatology showed blue and red light treatments eliminated p-acne bacteria (a major cause of acne) and reduces skin blemishes by 76%.”

However the FTC ruled that the claims by both apps were unsubstantiated and also said that the AcneApp marketers claim that a study in the British Journal of Dermatology proved that red and blue light treatment worked was false.

Of course, this only covers the two iOS and Android apps mentioned above and obviously other mobile apps that educate on the treatment of acne are not affected.