"Deceptive" weight-loss marketers pay up
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
A federal district court orders Bronson Partners and its officer, Martin Howard, to pay the Federal Trade Commission nearly $2 million for making deceptive claims that its Chinese Diet Tea and Bio-Slim Patch products allow users to lose weight quickly without diet or exercise, FTC announces Jan. 11. Additionally, the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut granted the commission's request to prohibit the defendants from deceptively selling or advertising any weight-loss products, and ordered the firm to help FTC identify consumers who lost money on the products. Ads claimed the tea could "neutralize the absorption of fattening foods" and said "repulsive, excess ugly fatty tissue will disappear" by using the patch. The FTC filed its complaint against Bronson as part of its "Big Fat Lie" law enforcement sweep in 2004 (1"The Tan Sheet" Nov. 15, 2004)