Growth Pill DMer Settles With FTC
A Florida business and its owner, who marketed purported height-enhancing pills through the Internet and direct response radio and space will pay $375,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their advertising claims were deceptive.
The FTC charged Sunny Health Nutrition Technology & Products, Inc. and its owner, Sunny Sia with making false and unsubstantiated claims for HeightMax and two other supplements, Liposan Ultra Chitosan Fat Blocker and Osteo-Vite.
The operation advertised HeightMax dietary supplements in English and Spanish on the Internet and radio. Ads also appeared in the back pages of magazines such as Newsweek, Rolling Stone, and Maxim, according to the FTC.
The complaint charged that claims for the pills were unsubstantiated or false and that the defendants invented William Thomson, a supposed expert who appeared in the ads.
The FTC further charged that the ads for HeightMax Concentrate and HeightMax Plus misrepresented that:
- HeightMax increases height in users ages 12-25 over what they would achieve without the product.
- HeightMax causes users to grow an additional two to three inches in six months.
- HeightMax increases the height of teenagers and young adults.
- Regular use of HeightMax for six months causes a 10% to 25% gain in height, and use for more than a year causes a 20% to 35% gain in height.
- HeightMax increases lean body mass and reduces body fat in users ages 12-25.
- William Thomson, an expert with a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, created HeightMax after years of research and clinical trials.
To settle the charges, defendants will pay $375,000 in consumer redress. The settlement also holds the defendants potentially liable for $1.9 million if they misrepresented their finances.
The settlement order requires that claims for any dietary supplement, food, or drug must be true, non-misleading, and substantiated. In addition, it prohibits the defendants from misrepresenting endorsements, including the existence or expertise of any endorser
The complaint and stipulated final order for permanent injunction were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
