Two ephedra companies agree to repay customers

WASHINGTON -- Two companies that promoted ephedra dietary supplements with promises of safe and miraculous weight loss have agreed to repay customers $370,000 to resolve federal charges of deceptive advertising, regulators said Tuesday.

The Federal Trade Commission also is taking to court an operation based in California and Canada that it says made unsupported claims for weight-loss products and arthritis cures.

"There is no such thing as weight loss in a bottle," said Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. "Claims that you'll lose substantial amounts of weight and still eat everything you want are simply false."

The FTC said the two companies made false claims that their products could cause rapid and substantial weight loss without diet or exercise. The agency also said the companies had no support for promises that the products, some containing the herbal stimulant ephedra, were safe.

Health Laboratories of North America Inc., based in Scottsdale, Ariz., marketed two products under the brand Berry Trim Plus mainly through direct mail advertising. The FTC said one misleading ad said "Teacher loses 70 pounds in only eight weeks ... This is how over 1 million people have safely lost millions of pounds! No calorie counting! No hunger! Guaranteed to work for you too!"

USA Pharmacal Sales Inc., based in Palm Harbor, Fla., sold three weight-loss products and a supplement to treat male impotence, advertising with mailings and newspaper inserts. The products included Fat Sponge in a Pill and Meta-Biological, a weight-loss cocktail containing ephedrine, ephedra's active ingredient.

Health Laboratories, which earned $35 million in sales, will pay $195,000 to the FTC because of its financial condition, Beales said. USA Pharmacal Sales had $9.2 million in sales and will pay $175,000. The FTC will try to refund the money to consumers.

The settlements also require them to include health warnings.

In March, the Food and Drug Administration said every bottle of ephedra soon will carry warnings that the popular herb used for weight loss and to boost athletic performance can cause potentially fatal heart attacks or strokes. That decision came soon after the high-profile death of an ephedra user, Baltimore Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler.

By settling, the companies don't acknowledge breaking any law.

James Prochnow, an attorney for Health Laboratories, said the settlement was reasonable. A lawyer for the USA Pharmacal Sales did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The FTC also is suing Bentley Myers International Co., based in Vancouver, British Columbia, and Publisher's Data Services Inc. and Nutritional Life Inc., both based in Beverly Hills, Calif., for making misleading claims about three weight-loss products -- Zymax, MillinexES and Serotril -- and a dietary supplement promoted as a treatment for arthritis and joint problems. Two of the diet products contain ephedra, the FTC said.

Messages left with those companies were not immediately returned.

------

On the Net: FTC: http://www.ftc.gov/dietfit/