Diet pills and consumer fraud

Diet pills have met many different fates and come with many different promises. But where do you cross the line between misleading advertising and outright fraud? And how long will health products be allowed to cross this line? Some diet pills have been shown to be very effective but were later found to have serious health side effects. Other diet pills have had short and explosive lives. And some diet pills just plug. But one hallmark that remains true about the diet pill industry is that there is always some new “breakthrough” with a new set of promises that are not easily verified.

Cortislim is one of the new generations of diet pills. Cortislim promised to reduce fat around the abdomen by lowering levels of cortisol, the “stress hormone.” In October 2004, the FTC charged the makers of Cortislim with falsely and unsubstantiated claims that their products can cause weight loss and reduce the risk of or prevent serious illness.

According to the FTC, the defendants began marketing CortiSlim in August 2003, through nationally syndicated infomercials featuring Cynaumon and Talbott that aired on various television channels, including Access Television, the Travel Channel and the Discovery Channel. The FTC relieves that the defendants promoted cortisol control as “the answer” to

anyone who wants to lose weight, especially abdominal weight. According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants’ broadcast ads, print ads and websites claimed that persistently elevated levels of the “stress hormone” cortisol are the underlying cause of weight gain and retention and they also claimed that CortiSlim lowers and controls cortisol levels and thus causes substantial weight loss. The FTC alleges that the defendants claimed that CortiSlim: (1) causes weight loss of 10 to 50 pounds for virtually all users; (2) causes users to lose 4 to 10 pounds per week for several weeks; (3) causes users to lose weight specifically in the abdomen, stomach, and thighs; (4) causes rapid and substantial weight loss; (5) causes long-term or permanent weight loss; and (6) causes weight loss. The FTC also alleges that the defendants asserted that the effectiveness of CortiSlim and its ingredients is proven by more than 15 years of scientific research. According to the FTC complaint, these claims are false or unsubstantiated.

Cortislim eventually withdrew its initial advertising and took a more moderate approach, but not before attorneys began collecting signatures for a class action lawsuit alleging fraud.

Which raises the fundamental question: how long will diet pills and other similar products be allowed to engage in questionable advertising?

Prescription drugs must pass many tests to prove their usefulness and safety. But with herbal and over-the-counter remedies, manufacturers can essentially claim whatever they want from their products without publishing the results of any studies. This creates a scenario where companies are almost given the green light to make outrageous claims about diet products. The creators of Cortislim are said to have made $50 million.

But when the government puts a company in the crosshairs, other lawsuits will almost always follow. Within days of Vioxx’s withdrawal, a class action lawsuit was filed. These trends will continue, and if the FTC remains aggressive in pursuing false advertising, the incentives for bad marketing practices in unproven diet pills will diminish.

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