FTC Sues Marketers of Weight-Loss Supplement
October 5,2004
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. regulators said on Tuesday they have sued the marketers of the widely advertised "CortiSlim" weight-loss supplement and are seeking to force them to reimburse customers.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it had filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles against Window Rock Enterprises Inc. and Infinity Advertising Inc., Los Angeles-based companies that tout supplements CortiSlim and CortiStress.
"The Window Rock defendants' weight-loss and disease-prevention claims fly in the face of reality," said Lydia Parnes, the FTC's acting consumer protection chief. "No pill can replace a healthy program of diet and exercise."
Representatives of the companies were not immediately available for comment.
The FTC said the companies have made deceptive claims about the supplements and falsely suggested that infomercials promoting them were "independent" television programs.
The companies began marketing the two products in August and September 2003 through television advertisements that claimed they could lower elevated levels of cortisol, which the ads said was a hormone that caused weight gain, the FTC said.
According to the FTC, the companies claimed that virtually all people who used CortiSlim would lose 10 to 50 pounds. The agency said those claims were false or unsubstantiated.
The companies also made false or unsubstantiated claims about CortiStress -- that it reduces the risk of, or prevents, conditions such as osteoporosis, obesity, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease (news - web sites), cancer, and cardiovascular disease, the FTC said.
The marketers of the supplements have agreed to an interim order that would impose restrictions on their advertising, the FTC said. The order still must be approved by a federal judge.
The agency is continuing to try to negotiate a broader settlement that includes consumer redress and a permanent injunction governing future advertising claims.
Source:http://story.news.yahoo.com
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