FTC Busts Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals
June 29, 2008
A federal court has ruled Hi-Tech Pharmaceutical’s and related defendants—National Urological Group (a.k.a. Warner Laboratories), the National Institute for Clinical Weight Loss Inc., Dr. Terrill Wright, and corporate officers Jared Wheat, Thomasz Holda, Michael Howell and Stephen Smith—are responsible for paying about $15.8 million on charges it violated the FTC act via false advertising and unsubstantiated claims for several weight-loss products. The court has also approved a permanent injunction against Wright, a physician associated with the online pharmacies, as well as a fine of $15.4 million for his ill-gotten gains.
Can’t Trust A Doctor?
In the case against Dr. Wright, FTC accused the physician of making “numerous false and unsustainable endorsements that afforded the product an air of clinical safety that it otherwise may not have had.” The court rejected Dr. Wright’s defense that FTC cannot prove he will violate the law again. In fact, FTC showed that Dr. Wright violated the law in the past and continues and continues to make false claim endorsements for Hi-Tech and the other companies, including making some of the same claims in the case at hand.
Final Comments
The fine of 15.4 million dollars seems like a huge amount but it may be nothing compared to the revenue Hi-Tech generated in a very short period of time. Aggressive advertising claims result in massive increases in sales in all instances, but eventually you have to pay the piper. Some crafty supplement owners channel money into offshore accounts or “shell” companies prior to being “caught” by the FTC.
Comments
2 Responses to “FTC Busts Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals”
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Good job supplement genius.. You blew it here with your facts..
…and we are shipping Stamina Rx!
Thx
We post what’s already been posted elsewhere. But please correct us if we’ve somehow made a mistake Bobby. Remember, this post was done JUNE 29th 2008.
Here are a few links you may want to read:
http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202422192464
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/sections/news/Permanent_Injunction.pdf
http://www.npicenter.com/anm/templates/newsATemp.aspx?articleid=21919&zoneid=18