| U.S. Federal Trade Commission |
FTC News Release, May 27, 2003
A. Glenn Braswell's Dietary Supplement Enterprise Targeted
FTC Challenges False and Unsubstantiated Claims
The Federal Trade
Commission has filed a complaint in federal district
court against A. Glenn Braswell and four of his
corporations challenging allegedly false and
unsubstantiated advertising claims for numerous dietary
supplements marketed under the Gero Vita and
Theraceuticals brand names. The complaint also names as
a defendant corporate officer Ron Tepper. The complaint
challenges claims that five dietary supplements treat or
cure respiratory disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's disease,
obesity, and erectile dysfunction. The FTC is seeking
permanent injunctive relief, consumer redress, and a
permanent ban against Braswell's participation in any
business engaged in the advertising or sale of
health-related products.
The Braswell enterprise,
which operates out of Marina Del Rey, California, is
comprised of numerous affiliated companies, including
JOL Management Co., G.B. Data Systems, Inc., Gero Vita
International, Inc., and Theraceuticals, Inc., all named
as defendants in the complaint. According to the FTC,
Braswell's operation is one of the largest U.S. direct
marketers of health-related products. The FTC's
complaint alleges sales totaling approximately $800
million since 1998.
"These defendants built
their businesses on false and outrageous claims aimed at
older consumers and those with chronic illnesses," said
Howard Beales, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer
Protection. "Today's action demonstrates the
Commission's continuing commitment to attacking fraud in
the dietary supplement market."
Braswell is already under a
1983 federal court settlement resolving charges that he
and several of his corporations violated the FTC Act and
the FTC's Mail Order Rule in connection with the
advertising and sale of various health-related products.
The FTC's complaint alleges
that Braswell and the other defendants market numerous
dietary supplement products through false and
unsubstantiated claims. According to the FTC, the
defendants' multi-page direct mail advertisements
deceptively tout their products as "scientific
breakthroughs" that can treat or cure a host of serious
illnesses and medical conditions. The products
identified in the FTC's complaint are: Lung
Support Formula, claimed to cure or ameliorate
nearly all respiratory problems, including asthma,
emphysema and smoking damage; Antibetic Pancreas
Tonic, claimed to treat or cure Type I and Type
II diabetes, and to lower blood sugar levels by
repairing the pancreatic cells that produce insulin;
G.H.3 and Theraceuticals GH3 Romanian Youth
Formula, claimed, among other things, to
reverse and prevent Alzheimer's disease and other forms
of dementia, and to increase lifespan;
Chitoplex, a chitosan-based product
purported to cause weight loss and reverse obesity
without diet or exercise; and Testerex,
claimed to treat erectile dysfunction in 62% to 95% of
men.
In addition, the FTC
complaint challenges the defendants' use of deceptive
advertising formats and expert endorsements to market
its products. Specifically, the complaint alleges that
the defendants deceptively portrayed their "New Life
Nutrition Magazine" as an independent health
magazine, when in fact it was advertising written by the
defendants for the purpose of selling their products.
The complaint further alleges that the defendants
claimed that an independent organization, the "Council
on Natural Nutrition," conferred its "Golden Nutrition
Awards" on the defendants' Arthro 7, ChitoPlex and G.H.3
products, when in fact, the defendants had established
the "Counsel on Natural Nutrition." In addition, the
complaint alleges that the defendants' representation
that Dr. Ronald Lawrence, Director of the Council on
Natural Nutrition, endorsed the defendants' products
based on his independent, objective evaluation of the
products, when in fact, Dr. Lawrence was a paid endorser
of the defendants' products and was a member of
defendant G.B. Data Systems' Board of Directors.
The Commission vote to
authorize staff to file the complaint was 5-0. The
complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the
Central District California, Western Division, on May
27, 2003.
The text in this article was prepared by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission.