Tag: Bureau of Consumer Protection

In July 2023, the Commission took action under the FTC Act and the OARFPA against the makers of Sobrenix, which was deceptively marketed to reduce and even eliminate alcohol cravings and consumption. As a result of the FTC’s suit, the defendants agreed to a proposed court order permanently banning them from making any unsubstantiated claims about health care products or services, as well as requiring them to pay $650,000 to provide refunds to consumers. In November 2024, the FTC announced it was sending $536,000 in refunds to defrauded consumers who bought the product.

The FTC announced a settlement Celsius Network that will permanently ban it from handling consumers’ assets and charged three former executives with tricking consumers into transferring cryptocurrency onto the platform by falsely promising that deposits would be safe and always available.

The Federal Trade Commission took action under the FTC Act and the Opioid Addiction Recovery Fraud Prevention Act (OARFPA), suing Michael J. Connors and companies he controls for deceptively marketing their Smoke Away products as able to eliminate consumers’ nicotine addiction and enable them to quit smoking quickly, easily, and permanently. The case is the FTC’s first smoking cessation product challenge under OARFPA, and its first alleging the deceptive use of testimonials to sell a supposed addition-treatment product.

The proposed stipulated order settling the Commission’s complaint permanently bans Connors—who settled a 2005 FTC complaint regarding Smoke Away—and his companies from marketing or selling any substance use disorder treatment product or service, including any smoking cessation product or service.