CortiSlim settlement
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Pinnacle Marketing Concepts and related defendants will pay FTC $4.5 mil. in cash and other assets to settle charges arising from their roles as marketers of CortiSlim and CortiStress dietary supplements, the commission announces Sept. 21. The firm's president Thomas Cheng and employee Shawn Talbott are additionally enjoined from misrepresenting tests or studies in their advertising or making false and misleading claims. Keys to a speedboat will also be handed over as part of the agreement. The Calif.-based firm is ordered to use "'paid advertisement' disclosures for television ads longer than 15 minutes and for radio ads longer than 5 minutes." FTC alleged the defendant's infomercials were "deceptively formatted to appear as talk shows rather than advertisements" and is still in litigation with the four remaining defendants of the October 2004 complaint...