| U.S. Federal Trade Commission |
FTC News Release, January 3, 2006
Direct Response Marketer Banned
FTC Charged Braswell Made False Claims to Sell Dietary Supplements
The mastermind behind a scheme to sell dietary supplements
using claims the Federal Trade Commission alleged were false
and unsubstantiated has been banned from the direct response
marketing of foods, unapproved drugs, and dietary supplements.
The defendant, A. Glenn Braswell, who was already under
another consent decree stemming from alleged violations of the
FTC Act, also will pay $1 million and turn over assets worth
$3.5 million to settle the FTC’s charges. The FTC also is
announcing a settlement with one of the “expert” endorsers for
Braswell’s dietary supplement products.
“We charged Braswell with peddling empty promises to
consumers battling serious illnesses,” said Lydia Parnes,
Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “This
settlement will prevent him from profiting from these sorts of
deceptive claims in the future, and deter others who may think
they can get away with similar practices.”
Braswell sold dietary supplements, mostly through direct
mail advertising, including the Journal of Longevity,
a direct mail ad that purported to be a health-information
magazine. The FTC alleged these ads, aimed at elderly
consumers, used false and misleading claims of medical or
scientific “breakthroughs,” expert endorsements, and
misrepresented the results and applicability of scientific
studies. According to the FTC, Braswell’s operation was one of
the largest U.S. direct mail marketers of health-related
products during the time he was running the companies.
The products the FTC targeted, Lung Support Formula,
AntiBetic Pancreas Tonic, Gero Vita G.H.3, ChitoPlex, and
Testerex, were supposed to cure, prevent, or treat a number of
illnesses, such as Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and
emphysema. Braswell is the former owner of the
California-based corporate defendants and controlled the
misleading advertising and marketing materials.
In settling the FTC’s charges, Braswell not only is banned
from direct response marketing (with a few exemptions, such as
FDA approved product claims), he also is prohibited from
making false, misleading, or unsubstantiated health claims,
misrepresenting endorsements, making unsubstantiated
endorsements, or misrepresenting scientific evidence for all
foods, drugs, dietary supplements, and health-related products
and services. Braswell already was under a 1983 consent order
to resolve the FTC’s charges related to his marketing of
baldness and anti-cellulite products.
Today, the FTC also is announcing a settlement with
defendant Hans Kugler. The FTC alleged that Kugler was an
expert endorser for two of the products, Lung Support Formula
and Gero Vita G.H.3. The FTC’s complaint charged that Kugler
did not have the required expertise or a reasonable basis for
his endorsements. The settlement prohibits him from making
future endorsements, unless they are based on competent and
reliable scientific information and an actual exercise of his
represented expertise, as well as misrepresentations about
scientific tests or studies. Kugler will pay $15,000 in
settlement of the allegations.
With today’s announced settlements, all of the seven
corporate defendants and four of the five individual
defendants have settled the FTC’s charges in this case.
Litigation continues against Chase Revel.
The Commission votes authorizing staff to file the
stipulated final orders were both 4-0. The stipulated final
orders for permanent injunction were filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California on
October 21, 2005 (Kugler) and December 28, 2005 (Braswell).
NOTE: These stipulated final orders are for settlement
purposes only and do not constitute an admission by the
defendants of law violations. A stipulated final order
requires approval by the court and has the force of law when
signed by the judge.
The text in this article was prepared by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.