Weight loss Patch fine

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http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2008/09/patchnr.shtm

Marketers of Weight-Loss Patch to Pay More Than $110,000 for Violating

Previous FTC Settlements

Marketers of a weight-loss patch have agreed to pay $110,539 to settle

Federal Trade Commission charges that they violated two 2004 consent orders

by continuing to make false claims that their product causes substantial

weight loss and weight loss in all users. After agreeing to the 2004 consent

orders, the marketers continued making the same bogus claims they had made

previously, but this time they targeted consumers abroad. They made these

claims in brochures accompanying shipments of the patches that were intended

for sale to overseas consumers.

In 2004, Advanced Patch Technologies (APT), its distributor, Buckhead

Marketing & Distribution LLC (Buckhead), and their officers, settled FTC

charges of deceptive marketing based on their claims that, among other

things, the " Peel Away the Pounds " patch would cause substantial weight loss

when applied to the skin. That settlement required the defendants to pay

more than $1 million in consumer redress.

Together, the two new modified final orders cover APT and its president,

Salomon Btesh; and Buckhead, its former co-CEO, Ralf Leszinski, and

Buckhead's successor Worldwide Excellence, Inc. These orders resolve FTC

allegations that after agreeing to the 2004 consent orders, the defendants

continued to engage in deceptive marketing by selling the patches, along

with brochures containing prohibited claims, to a third party for resale

overseas.

Under the terms of the new settlement agreements, APT and Buckhead will

forfeit, or disgorge, $67,471.50 and $43,068, respectively. These amounts

represent the estimated profits these companies made from selling their

weight-loss patches, with brochures containing the prohibited claims, since

they agreed to the 2004 consent orders. The total amount will be paid to the

U.S. Treasury.

Also under the new settlements, the defendants are barred from: selling any

transdermal weight-loss products; advertising that any product causes

substantial weight loss in all users; and making unsubstantiated claims for

any product, service, or program that purportedly provides health benefits.

The defendants also are prohibited from assisting others in doing any of

these things.

Both settlements also contain various record-keeping and reporting

provisions to assist the FTC in monitoring the defendants' compliance.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the modified final orders

was 4-0. These documents were filed in U.S. District Court for the Northern

District of Georgia on September 22, 2008.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has " reason to believe " that

the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the Commission that

a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a finding or

ruling that the defendant or respondent has actually violated the law. The

stipulated final order is for settlement purposes only and does not

constitute an admission by the defendants of a law violation. A stipulated

final order requires approval by the court and has the force of law when

signed by the judge.

--

Ortiz, RD

The best vitamin

for making friends..... is B1.