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