Iovate Health Sciences U.S.A was charged with making false claims about is dietary supplements via advertising, including the use of television. As part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission, it is sending over 2,500 checks to dissatisfied customers.
The supplements were acquired between January 2006 and July 2010.
The amount of the refund checks averages $71.71, amounts to a total of $182,573.43, according to the FTC. It is part of a settlement arrived at back in 2010 that was valued at the time at $5.5M and also included orders to cease using deceptive advertising practices.
The FTC said it “…charged Iovate Health Sciences U.S.A. and two affiliated Canadian companies with deceptively advertising their supplements using television ads, Internet websites, and print ads in national magazines. Using photos of white-coated individuals depicted as medical doctors, Iovate’s ads claimed that dietary supplements Cold MD and Germ MD treat or prevent colds and flu, and that Allergy MD treats or prevents allergies and hay fever, according to the FTC complaint. Some ads also proclaimed that the products’ effectiveness was clinically proven. The FTC complaint alleges that these claims were false and unsubstantiated.”
