FTC Orders Refunds in “Pain Relief Tape” Infomercial Case
The Federal Trade Commission found that claims made by Smart Inventions Inc. and Jon Nokes about Biotape, an adhesive tape that alleviates pain were too good to be true, according to the FTC. Nokes and Smart Inventions will pay more than $2.5 million in customer refunds.
Furthermore, Darrell Stoddard, who invented Biotape, was ordered to surrender $86,000 he made to the U.S. Treasury. Stoddard is also the author of “Pain Free for Life,” which accompanied some order of Biotape.
According to the FTC, Stoddard appeared in an infomercial distributed by Nokes and Smart Inventions that claimed Biotape was “a space age conductive mylar that connects the broken circuits that cause…pain.”
Under the terms of a stipulated final order filed in the U.S District Court , Central District of California, Eastern Division, the defendants are required to contact all Biotape purchasers and offer their money back. Additionally, any products currently in the marketplace must be either recalled or re-labeled.
Smart Inventions and Nokes are further banned from making any claims about the health benefits, performance, efficacy or safety of certain products unless the claims are backed up by credible scientific evidence.
