FTC fines Weight-loss Drug makers for False Claims

Marketers of four products –Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, TrimSpa, and One-A-Day WeightSmart, on Thursday faced fine of $US25 million from the US Federal Trade Commission for using false statements in their products advertising ranging from rapid weight loss to reducing the risk of cancer.

The federal agency, charged with enforcing antitrust legislation and preventing false advertising, among other duties, filed complaints in four separate cases alleging that weight-loss and weight-control claims were not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

The products though remain on store shelves but the companies would have to stop making the false claims, FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said.

"What we challenge is the marketing of the claims," she said. "The marketers are required to back up the claims with the science and if they can't do that they can't make the claim. But we don't ban the products from the shelves."

FTC, whose principal mission is the promotion of consumer protection and the elimination and prevention of anticompetitive business practices, investigated the variety of claims made by the companies, including rapid weight loss and reduction in the risk of osteoporosis, Alzheimer's and even cancer.

Some of the products marketed their claims through television commercials or celebrity endorsements. For instance, Anna Nicole Smith has endorsed TrimSpa.

Two marketers of Xenadrine EFX, made by New Jersey-based Nutraquest, Inc., formerly known as Cytodyne Technologies, bore the largest penalty. They will pay at least $8 million and as much as $12.8 million to settle FTC allegations that Xenadrine EFX’s weight-loss claims were false and unsubstantiated.

FTC said none of the studies of Xenadrine EFX, which contains, among other ingredients, green tea extract, caffeine, and bitter orange and was advertised heavily in print media and on television, showed evidences of substantial weight loss. One marketer, identified as Manasquan, N.J. based RTC Research & Development, LLC will pay at least $8 million.

Seven marketers of CortiSlim and CortiStress, identified as Window Rock Health Laboratories, based in Brea, California will pay $12 million to settle FTC charges that they made false and unsubstantiated claims that their products can cause weight loss and reduce the risk of, or prevent, serious health conditions.

TrimSpa marketers will pay $1.5 million to settle FTC allegations that their weight-loss claims were unsubstantiated. FTC accused companies of having inadequate scientific evidence to support their advertising claims that TrimSpa causes rapid and substantial weight loss.

The Bayer Corp. will pay a $3.2 million civil penalty to settle the FTC allegations that advertisements for One-A-Day WeightSmart multivitamins violated an earlier Commission order requiring all health claims for One-A-Day brand vitamins to be supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.

However, the Morristown, N.J. based Bayer said that it does not agree with the FTC's description of the company as a marketer of a weight-loss pill. "It's a multivitamin," said Tricia McKernan, spokeswoman for Bayer HealthCare's Consumer Care Division. "We don't market ourselves as a weight-loss product."