New Ingredients, New Life For Cytodyne’s Weight Loss Supplements
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
A firm that has agreed to pay as much as $12.8 million to settle a false advertising complaint and that reorganized under bankruptcy protection after incurring losses from ephedra-related lawsuits is returning to the marketplace with a new weight loss supplement, according to a Jan. 15 announcement
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A firm that has agreed to pay as much as $12.8 million to settle a false advertising complaint and that reorganized under bankruptcy protection after incurring losses from ephedra-related lawsuits is returning to the marketplace with a new weight loss supplement, according to a Jan. 15 announcement. Cytodyne Technologies, a division of NutraQuest Inc., says its Ultra-Strength Xenadrine-EFX supplement "provides an added dimension of powerful weight-loss efficacy that goes beyond anything previously available in the EFX product line." It is the latest version of a product the Manasquan, N.J.-based firm originally made with ephedra but reformulated to include green tea extract and other caffeine sources among its ingredients before it went into bankruptcy in 2003, citing losses in lawsuits as well as the loss of sales following reports of deaths and other problems linked to use of ephedra. FDA banned supplements containing ephedrine alkaloids in 2004 in an order upheld by the Supreme Court in 2007 (1 (Also see "Supreme Court Refuses Ephedra Case, Battle Against Risk-Benefit Continues" - Pink Sheet, 21 May, 2007.), p. 3). Cytodyne also has faced false advertising complaints from federal and state agencies. In January 2007, Robert Chinery Jr., who had been Cytodyne CEO, Tracey Chinery and RTC Research and Development LLC agreed to pay between $8 million and $12.8 million to settle Federal Trade Commission allegations that Xenadrine-EFX weight loss claims were false and unsubstantiated (2 (Also see "FTC Supplement Settlements Spotlight Bayer, Mark First Hoodia Action" - Pink Sheet, 8 Jan, 2007.), p. 4). In 2005, Chinery and Cytodyne agreed to pay $940,000 to New Jersey to settle a false advertising claim. NutraQuest paid California $1 million to settle a similar claim in 2006. The safety of Xenadrine-EFX was not questioned in the false advertising claims and the product was allowed to remain on the market. However, the firm says it "has emerged from a self-imposed five-year hiatus from the retail marketplace." It worked "with top researchers on the intensive scientific investigation into new technologies designed to facilitate high-impact thermogenesis and weight loss," according to the firm's release. - Malcolm Spicer ([email protected]) |