Freedom Center Against Obesity

Agency: Federal Trade Commission (FTC)Washington
Description:

On July 17, 2014 the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) entered into a settlement agreement with this company and its principal, Manon Fernet, to settle a complaint filed against the defendants for violations of the FTC Act. Under the judgment the defendants agreed to pay $500,000 in monetary relief.

The defendants allegedly marketed and sold Double Shot Weight Regulator pills (“Double Shot”) to US consumers from 2012 through October 2013 by direct mail. The FTC charged the company made false claims and deceived consumers into believing Double Shot would cause rapid, substantial, and permanent weight loss, without diet of exercise. The company claimed users of the Double Shot pill could eat as much of any food as they wanted, and lose 15 to 20 pounds a week, without exercising. In addition, the defendants claimed the effectiveness of the Double Shots weight- loss treatment had been medically proven.

The FTC charged that defendant’s claims were false or unsupported and in violation of the FTC Act which prohibits unfair and deceptive acts or practices including misrepresentations or omission of material facts. In addition to paying $500,000 in monetary relief, the defendants are banned from manufacturing or marketing weight loss products or assisting others in doing so. Also, they are prohibited from making any claims about the health benefits or effectiveness of any dietary supplement, food, drug, or device unless the claims are true and the defendants have competent and reliable scientific evidence to back them up. The evidence must consist of studies that are generally accepted in the profession to have been conducted and evaluated objectively by qualified people. The settlement also prohibits them from misrepresenting the results of any study when marketing a dietary supplement, food, drug, or device, and from saying the benefits of such a product are scientifically proven when they are not.

The FTC complaint and settlement information can be found on the FTC website.