The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is refunding consumers who purchased popular weight loss pills under guise of false claims. The courts ruled that consumers were deceived by the supplement marketer and that the company must pay. Today, the checks start rolling out.
The weight loss supplements attached to these false claims are Thermalean and Lipodrene. These supplements were marketed by Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals and were advertised to be clinically proven to cause substantial weight loss. The weight loss claims also included a 19 percent loss in total body fat.
Rebecca Tushnet covered the specifics of the trial when it was in progress on her False Advertising and More blog. During the trial, it was discovered that the products had not been tested, just the individual ingredients. Some of the specific claims about the supplements stated that one could lose 30 pounds in two months, up to 125 pounds. These statements were found false due to the fact that the only evidence was that the active ingredient could lead to a two-pound weight loss per month. (more…)
