With the escalating obesity problem, it was inevitable that fraudsters would devise all manner of bogus weight loss schemes, in an effort to separate the overweight from their hard earned cash. In 2007 there was a profusion of scams.
For example, author and advertising expert Kevin Trudeau, and marketers of his book, “The Weight Loss Cure They Don’t Want You to Know About,” was accused by the FTC of misrepresenting the book’s contents. The marketers claimed that the weight-loss plan outlined in the book was easy to carry out, could be done at home, and ultimately allowed readers to eat whatever they wanted. In reality, the book detailed a complex, demanding plan that required intense dieting, daily injections of a prescription drug, and permanent dietary restrictions. The FTC sued the same defendants in 2004, alleging that they made deceptive advertising claims for two dietary supplements and billed consumers’ credit cards without authorization.
Transdermal Products International marketed a patch that was supposed to make the wearer lose weight. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said the company provided over twenty domestic and foreign retailers with sample deceptive advertising and bogus supporting materials, including claimed expert endorsements and made-up clinical studies. Among the fraudulent claims, the FTC reported, was that sea kelp contained in the patch had been approved for weight loss by the Food and Drug Administration.
The FTC also took legal action against the marketers of various Hoodia products, including companies in Canada, and Australia. The companies claimed their pills would not only help consumers lose weight, but reverse the ageing process.
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