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Editor's Note:
This is taken directly from the FTC's web site. As with
anything - before you use any diet pill - get the facts and
check with your doctor.
For Release:
May 11, 2006
Major
Weight-Loss Marketers Pay $3 Million
FTC Charged They Could
Not Back Up Claims for Six Weight-Loss Products for Adults
and Kids
Sellers making questionable
weight-loss and fat-loss claims to peddle skin gels
and diet supplements will pay $3 million to settle
Federal Trade Commission charges that their deceptive claims
violated federal law. The settlement bars unsubstantiated
claims in the future and bars the marketers from
misrepresenting studies or endorsements.
According to the FTC's
Complaint, the ads for three skin gels - Tummy Flattening
Gel, Cutting Gel, and Dermalin APg - claimed they melted
away fat wherever applied, including a user's thighs, tummy,
even a double chin.
Ads for Leptoprin and Anorex, two
ephedrine pills
claimed they caused weight loss of more
than 20 pounds. The advertising for PediaLean fiber pills
for overweight children claimed the pills caused substantial
weight loss. The FTC alleged the marketers lacked a
reasonable basis to back up these claims. In addition, the
FTC alleged the ads falsely claimed that clinical testing
proved those claims for four of the challenged products and
misrepresented their spokesperson as a medical doctor.
Ads for the products ran on
television, in magazines, and in tabloids. The products were
also marketed on the Internet. Leptoprin was heavily
advertised through short-form television infomercials. Ads
for the skin gels ran in Cosmopolitan, Muscle and Fitness,
and other magazines. PediaLean was advertised in tabloids
and magazines such as The Enquirer and Redbook.
Under the FTC's final
order, the primary company, Basic Research, will pay $3
million on behalf of all six companies and three individuals
charged in this case: Basic Research, LLC, A.G. Waterhouse,
LLC, Klein Becker USA, LLC, NutraSport, LLC, Sovage
Dermalogic Laboratories, LLC, BAN LLC, Dennis Gay, Daniel B.
Mowrey (also doing business as American Phytotherapy
Research Laboratory) and Mitchell K. Friedlander.
The FTC's final order
prohibits the marketers from making unsubstantiated claims
that Dermalin-APg, Cutting Gel, Tummy Flattening Gel, Anorex,
Leptoprin, PediaLean, or any substantially similar product
causes weight loss or fat loss and misrepresenting the
effects of a product through the use of product names or
endorsements. When they make weight-loss or fat-loss claims
for any products, they must rely on competent and reliable
scientific evidence. The marketers must also have
substantiation to support representations that any food,
drug, or dietary supplement has an effect on any disease, on
the structure or function of the human body, or other health
or weight-loss benefits. They cannot misrepresent any test,
study, or research, or the profession, expertise, training,
education, experience, or qualifications of any endorser.
The Commission vote to
accept the consent agreement, subject to public comment, was
5-0. The FTC will publish an announcement regarding the
agreement in the Federal Register. The agreement will be
subject to public comment for 30 days, beginning today and
ending Monday, June 12, 2006. Comments should be addressed
to the FTC, Office of the Secretary, Room H-135, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. The FTC
requests that any comment filed in paper form be sent by
courier or overnight service, if possible, because U.S.
postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is
subject to delay due to heightened security precautions.
NOTE: A
consent agreement is for settlement purposes only and does
not constitute an admission of a law violation. When the
Commission issues a consent order on a final basis, it
carries the force of law with respect to future actions.
Each violation of such an order may result in a civil
penalty of $11,000.
Weight Loss
Pill | Diet Supplements | Diet Pills
Copies of the complaint, proposed
consent agreement, and an analysis of the agreement to aid
in public comment are available from the FTC's Web site at
http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC's Consumer
Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to
prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices
in the marketplace and to provide information to help
consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in
English or
Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to take
complaints), or to get free information on any of 150
consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP
(1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at
http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet,
telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database
available to thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement
agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
MEDIA
CONTACT:
Jacqueline Dizdul
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2472
STAFF
CONTACT:
Laureen Kapin
Division of Enforcement
202-326-3237
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/05/basicresearch.htm
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