Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ADVERTISING NEWS: Amberen weight loss supplement marketers overstate efficacy, FTC claims, (May 12, 2015)

By Greg Hammond, J.D.

The FTC has filed a complaint against Lunada Biomedical, Inc. and others, alleging that the defendants falsely advertised the efficacy of the dietary supplement Amberen. The supplement was advertised to cause substantial weight loss for women over the age of 40 and that the weight loss was clinically proven (FTC v. Lunada Biomedical, Inc., File No. 132 3067, Dkt. No. 2:15-cv-03380-MWF (PLAx)).

Lunada purportedly acquired the rights to market the Amberen formula in the United States in 2006. The FTC alleges that the defendants represented, through claims and consumer endorsements, that Amberen causes substantial weight loss, loss of belly fat, and an increase in metabolism in women over the age of 40 who are perimenopausal or menopausal, and that Amberen is clinically proven to cause substantial weight loss. The defendants also represented that consumers could receive a “complimentary risk free trial.”

However, the efficacy claims were unsubstantiated, the Commission asserts, because the defendants’ study did not measure weight loss, loss of belly fat, or changes in metabolic rate and a different study found no statistically significant differences between individuals that took Amberen and the placebo group with regard to weight loss, loss of belly fat, or metabolism rate. The Commission also brought claims for false proof; false claims concerning Amberen’s success and customer satisfaction rates; failure to disclose material connections with endorsers; and falsely advertising a “risk free trial.”

“Lunada marketed Amberen to women over 40 as ‘clinically proven’ to cause weight loss,” stated Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection Jessica Rich. “But their own studies didn’t support those claims. The best way to lose weight is still diet and exercise.”

The FTC is seeking permanent injunctions to prevent the defendants from future violations of the FTC Act; relief to redress injury to consumers, such as rescission or reformation of contracts, restitution, the refund of monies paid, and disgorgement of ill-gotten monies; and court costs.

Companies: Lunada Biomedical, Inc.

News: Advertising ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews