FTC settles with loss pill makers

We have all seen the pills in the stores that promise that we will lose fast by taking them and i have never believed them although millions have been spent on them. Now finally the US Federal Trade Commission has settled with the makers of some of these products by saying that they can not use misleading claims and have been fined as well.

The FTC has filed complaints in four separate cases alleging that -loss and -control claims were not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. Marketers of the four products –Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, TrimSpa, and One-A-Day WeightSmart – have settled with the FTC, surrendered cash and other assets worth at least $25 million, and agreed to limit their future advertising claims.

“You won’t find loss in a bottle of pills that claims it has the latest scientific breakthrough or miracle ingredient,” said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. “Paying for fad science is a good way to lose cash, not pounds.”

Two marketers of Xenadrine EFX will pay at least $8 million and as much as $12.8 million to settle FTC allegations that Xenadrine EFX’s -loss claims were false and unsubstantiated. The funds will be used for consumer redress. In a bankruptcy case not involving the Commission, the defendants have also agreed to pay at least an additional $22.75 million to settle claims brought by creditors and consumers, including personal injury claims for an earlier ephedra-based product.

Xenadrine EFX, which contains, among other ingredients, green tea extract (EGCG), caffeine, and bitter orange (Citrus aurantium), was advertised heavily in print and on television, including in such publications as People, TV Guide, Cosmopolitan, and Men’s Fitness. Xenadrine EFX advertising also appeared in Spanish-language publications.

The FTC’s complaint alleged that the defendants made false or unsubstantiated claims for Xenadrine EFX, including that it was clinically proven to cause rapid and substantial loss and clinically proven to be more effective than leading ephedrine-based diet products. According
to the complaint, Robert Chinery commissioned several studies of Xenadrine EFX, none of which showed substantial loss. The complaint alleged that in one of these studies, subjects taking Xenadrine EFX lost an average of only 1.5 pounds over the 10-week study, while a control group taking a placebo lost an average of 2.5 pounds over the same period.

The complaint also alleged that Xenadrine EFX advertisements falsely represented that persons appearing in the ads achieved the reported loss solely by using Xenadrine EFX. According to the FTC complaint, consumer endorsers lost by engaging in rigorous diet and/or exercise programs. In addition, the endorsers were paid from $1,000 to $20,000 in connection with their testimonials; according to the complaint, Xenadrine EFX advertisements failed to disclose those payments.

This is a good news story as it is perfectly timed to point out these products as not being nearly as effective at a time of year when many people are looking for a shortcut to loss as part of new years resolutions.

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