$40 Million Settlement Reached in FTC False Advertising Suit Related to Dietary Supplements

Lunada Biomedical, Inc. (Lunada) has recently agreed to pay a $40 million settlement to resolve a federal false advertising case related to Amberen, a dietary supplement.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Lunada – the marketing company responsible for Amberen’s ads – made misleading and unsubstantiated claims about this supplement for menopausal women over 40, contending that the supplement providing various health benefits.

Commenting on this settlement, FTC Director Jessica Rich has stated:

The Lunada defendants made strong claims about the effectiveness of their supplement without the scientific evidence to back them up…The relief provided by this court order is intended to prevent the defendants from making unsupported health benefit claims in the future.

Details of the False Advertising Case & Settlement

As the FTC reveals, the false claims that Lunada made in the ads and marketing materials for Amberen included that the supplement could:

• Promote weight loss and reduce belly fat
• Increase users’ metabolism
• Alleviate various common symptoms of menopause, such as fatigue, hot flashes and sleeping problems.

Describing Amberen’s misleading tactics, Director Rich has explained that:

Lunada marketed Amberen to women over 40 as ‘clinically proven’ to cause weight loss… But their own studies didn’t support those claims. The best way to lose weight is still diet and exercise.

In addition to making misleading claims about Amberen, Lunada also reportedly misled consumers by:

• Not revealing that the product’s endorsements were from people affiliated with the brand
• Claiming that the supplement had a 93 percent success rate
• Offering a deceptive “30-day risk-free trial” of the supplement.

About one year after the FTC first took action against Lunada, the company and its three parent companies have now agreed to a $40 million settlement. Because these companies are unable to pay the bulk of this settlement, however, the FTC has agreed to suspend all but $250,000 of it.

In addition to the monetary fine, this settlement also bans Lunada from:

• Making any claims about the health benefits of drugs, food or supplements if the company doesn’t have the required clinical test results to backup such claims
• Misleading consumers about the efficacy of drugs, food or supplements
• Misrepresenting any fact about the products it markets
• Concealing when the company has paid for endorsements.

Contact the Los Angeles Consumer Attorneys at the Azadian Law Group, PC

If you have been harmed by a company’s false or misleading claims about its products, contact the Los Angeles consumer attorneys at the Azadian Law Group, PC for a free case to review to find out more about your options for recovery and justice.

You can call us at 626-449-4944 or send us an email via this contact form to find out more about how we can help you. If you choose to move forward with us, you will not have to pay us any legal fees until or unless compensation is secured for your case.

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