Legal Library: Cases and Proceedings

In January 2020, the sellers of a pill called ReJuvenation settled FTC charges that they deceptively claimed that their product is a virtual cure-all for age-related ailments—including cell damage, heart attack damage, brain damage, blindness, and deafness. The orders settling the FTC’s complaint prohibit the defendants from making such claims unless they are true and supported by scientific evidence. The orders also require payment of $660,000, which the Commission may use to provide refunds to defrauded consumers. In June 2020, the FTC announced it was sending checks totaling more than $149,000 to consumers who bought the product.

In October 2019, the Florida-based marketers and sellers of two aloe vera-based supplements agreed to settle FTC charges that they deceived consumers with false and unsupported claims that two products, TrueAloe and AloeCran, were effective treatments for a range of conditions affecting seniors, including chronic pain, ulcerative colitis, diabetes, and acid reflux. The court order resolving the complaint prohibits the sellters from making false and unsubstantiated health claims and requires them to pay $537,500. In May 2000, the FTC announced it was sending checks totaling more than $470,000 to consumers who bought the two supplements.

In March 2020, Nevada-based Health Center, Inc. (HCI) and its owner Peggy Pearce agreed to halt their allegedly deceptive advertising claims about three “cure-all” health and wellness products that targeted older consumers nationwide, in a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The order settling the FTC’s complaint prohibits HCI and Pearce from such deceptive conduct and imposes a partially suspended monetary judgment.

In April 2019, the FTC announced that 16 defendants settled charges that they deceptively marketed “cognitive improvement” supplements using sham news websites containing false and unsubstantiated efficacy claims, references to non-existent clinical studies, and fraudulent consumer and celebrity endorsements. The FTC also alleged the defendants used affiliate marketers to make deceptive claims for products including Geniux, Xcel, EVO, and Ion-Z. The settlements ban the defendants from engaging in similar conduct in the future. In February 2020, the Commission announced it was sending refund checks totaling over $551,000 to defrauded consumers.

The FTC and the State of Connecticut sued the marketers of LeanSpa in December 2011, charging that they used fake websites to promote acai berry and “colon cleanse” weight-loss products, and falsely told consumers they could receive free trials by paying a nominal shipping and handling cost. In reality, consumers paid $79.95 for the trial, and for recurring monthly shipments of the product that were hard to cancel. The LeanSpa marketers settled the complaint in 2014, agreeing to stop their allegedly deceptive practices and surrender assets for consumer redress. In October 2015, the FTC announced it was mailing more than 23,000 checks totaling over $3.7 million to consumers who bought LeanSpa products. In December 2019, the FTC sent a second round of checks totaling over $321,000 to consumers who bought LeanSpa products.

In February 2017, the FTC and the Maine AG’s office announced a complaint and three settlements with dietary supplement marketers who allegedly used radio infomercials deceptively formatted as talk shows and print ads featuring fictitious endorsers to advertise supplements purporting to improve memory and to reduce back and joint pain. The settlement orders resolving charges against the named in the complaint bar them from making similar deceptive claims, and prohibit them from engaging in a wide range of marketing practices that have caused serious financial injury to consumers. In April 2015, the FTC sent refunds to consumers who bought one of the company deceptively marketed supplements, CogniPrin. In August 2019, the FTC send refunds to consumers who bought FlexiPrin, another supplement the company sold.

In December 2018, officers of a company that marketed and sold Nobetes, a pill they claimed treats diabetes, settled an FTC complaint alleging that the advertising claims for the product are false or unsubstantiated. The order settling the FTC’s complaint prohibits the company and its officers from undertaking future deceptive practices, including making unsubstantiated health claims, misleading consumers about the terms of “free trial” offers, billing consumers without their consent, and other practices related to the use of “expert” endorsements and consumer testimonials. In addition, it requires them to pay money to provide refunds to consumers who bought the product. In August 2019, the FTC returned $60,791 to these consumers.