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Posted May 19, 2020

FTC Sends Refund Checks to Consumers of Unproven Weight Loss and Sexual Enhancement Supplements

On May 19, 2020, the FTC announced it is mailing 143,636 checks totaling more than $8,500,000 to consumers who purchased deceptively marketed supplements. These products include two weight loss supplements, Thermalean and Lipodrene, and one sexual enhancement supplement, Spontane-ES. The refunds are being distributed as part of a settlement of charges that the products were promoted with deceptive claims.

Three corporations, Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, Inc., NUG, and National Institute for Weight Loss, Inc. and five individual defendants were charged in November of 2004 with making deceptive claims about the efficacy and safety the products. The FTC first began mailing checks in August of 2012, and another round of checks will be mailed today. Recipients should deposit or cash checks within 60 days. The agency reminded consumers that it never requires people to pay money or provide account information to cash refund checks. The average check amount is $102.32.

In 2017, a U.S. District judge ruled that Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals Inc. violated permanent legal injunctions banning the supplement distributors from making unsubstantiated claims. Hi-Tech's had promoted Lipodrene with claims such as "a revolutionary weight loss formula scientifically engineered to help people lose weight and feel great!"

Previous formulations of Hi-Tech's Lipodrene, such as Lipodrene Hardcore and Lipodrene Xtreme were found to contain the synthetic, amphetamine-like compound beta-methylphenethylamine (BMPEA).

See ConsumerLab's Weight Loss Supplements Review and Sexual Enhancement Supplements Review for tests of related products.

See Related Warnings:

Hi-Tech To Pay Over 40 Million to Settle FTC Charges of False Claims

DMHA and Phenibut Are Not Permitted in Dietary Supplements, Warns FDA

FTC Sends Refund Checks to Consumers of Unproven "Brain-Boosting" Supplements

FTC Sends Refund Checks to Consumers of Unproven Weight-Loss Products

FTC Sends Checks to Herbalife Multi-Level Marketing Program Participants

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