FTC lands $16 million judgment against supplement firms
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has issued a final monetary judgment and permanent prohibitions against the marketers of dietary supplement products Thermalean and Lipodrene for weight loss and Spontane-ES for erectile dysfunction. Defendants National Urological Group, Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals and several others are found liable for $15.8 million in deceptive sales based on claims that their products caused 19 percent loss in total body weight and were clinically proven to treat 90 percent of men with ED, the Federal Trade Commission says Jan. 15. The marketers also are barred from making such claims in the absence of scientific evidence. The court granted FTC's motion for summary judgment in June, after the defendants unsuccessfully argued that the "non-actionable puffery" in their ads granted them protection under the FTC Act (1"The Tan Sheet" June 16, 2008, p. 8)