FTC Wins $1.4 Million Settlement From Procera AVH Marketers For Deceptive Advertising
Supplement Marketers Will Relinquish $1.4 Million to Settle FTC Deceptive Advertising Charges
The marketers of a dietary supplement called Procera AVH will relinquish $1.4 million under settlements resolving Federal Trade Commission charges that they deceived consumers with claims that the supplement was clinically proven to significantly improve memory, mood, and other cognitive functions.
Under the terms of the settlements, the defendants will pay $1 million to the FTC, and another $400,000 to satisfy a judgment in a case brought by local California law enforcement officials. They also will be barred from making similar deceptive claims in the future and from misrepresenting the existence, results, or conclusions of any scientific study.
According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants marketed and sold Procera AVH as a “solution” to memory loss and cognitive decline, including as associated with aging. The defendants advertised the product using infomercials, direct mail flyers, newspapers, and the Internet.
In one newspaper ad for the product the headline stated: “Memory Pill Helps the Brain Like Prescription Glasses Help the Eyes … Remarkable changes observed, helps users match the memory power of others 15 years younger in as little as 30 days!”
The cover of a multi-page direct mail ad was called a “Special Edition” of the “Physician’s Mind and Memory Alert.” Inside the text stated: “The thought of being a prisoner in one’s own home, or being unable to recall who you are, where you live, or to whom you are related is sending forgetful baby boomers and retirees scrambling for a solution.” The ad then promoted Procera AVH as “the memory pill preferred by many doctors.”
Procera AVH typically cost $79 per bottle, or $119 for three bottles for consumers who signed up for the continuity purchase plan and agreed to get automatic refills.
The Commission’s complaint alleged that efficacy claims for Procera AVH were false, misleading, or unsubstantiated and that the defendants falsely claimed that a scientific study proved the products efficacy. The complaint also charged the founder and chief science officer of Brain Research Labs, with making deceptive expert endorsements for Procera AVH.
The two proposed settlement orders againstth the defendants impose a $61 MILLION JUDGMENT against Keyview (one of the defendants) and a $91 MILLION JUDGMENT against the remaining defendants.
Talk about a chunk of change!
The judgments direct the defendants to pay $1 million to the FTC, and an additional $400,000 to satisfy a judgment obtained by local law enforcement in Santa Cruz, California against Brain Research Labs and Reynolds. If the $400,000 is not paid to satisfy the Santa Cruz judgment, it is immediately due to the Commission. Once the $1.4 million is paid, the $61 million and $91 million judgments will be suspended.
The Lesson – Product claims must be substantiated by “competent and reliable scientific evidence.”
The standard of “competent and reliable scientific evidence” is NOT met by your personal experience, your relatives’ and friends’ experiences, or even hundreds of case studies by a physician. “Competent and reliable scientific evidence” is defined as “tests, analyses, research, studies, or other evidence based on the expertise of professionals in the relevant area, that have been conducted and evaluated in an objective manner by persons qualified to do so, using procedures generally accepted in the profession to yield accurate and reliable results.” Making claims without proper substantiation can be a little spendy.