Tag: Consumer Protection

In December 2020, the FTC announced its first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The Commission took action against six sellers of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range of scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. A summary of the proposed orders settling the agency’s respective complaint is provided below. The FTC announced final approval of all six orders in March 2021.

Steves Distributing, LLC. The proposed administrative order prohibits the respondents from making certain prevention, treatment, or safety claims about dietary supplements, foods, and drugs, unless they have the human clinical testing to substantiate the claims. More broadly, it requires them to have competent and reliable scientific evidence when making any other health-related product claims. It requires the respondents to pay the FTC $75,000 and notify consumers of the Commission’s order.

In December 2020, the FTC announced its first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The Commission took action against six sellers of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range of scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. A summary of the proposed orders settling the agency’s respective complaint is provided below. The FTC announced final approval of all six orders in March 2021.

Reef Industries, Inc. The proposed administrative order prohibits the respondents from making certain prevention, treatment, or safety claims about dietary supplements, foods, and drugs, unless they have the human clinical testing to substantiate the claims. More broadly, it requires them to have competent and reliable scientific evidence when making any other health-related product claims. It requires them to pay the FTC $85,000 and notify consumers of the Commission’s order.

In December 2020, the FTC announced its first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The Commission took action against six sellers of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range of scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. A summary of the proposed orders settling the agency’s respective complaint can be found on the FTC’s website as a link to each case. The FTC announced final approval of all six orders in March 2021.

CBD Meds, Inc. The proposed administrative order prohibits the respondents from making certain prevention, treatment, or safety claims about dietary supplements, foods, and drugs, unless they have the human clinical testing to substantiate the claims. More broadly, it requires them to have competent and reliable scientific evidence when making any other health-related product claims. It requires the respondents to notify consumers of the Commission’s order.

In December 2020, the FTC announced its first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The Commission took action against six sellers of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range of scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. A summary of the proposed orders settling the agency’s respective complaint is provided below. The FTC announced final approval of all six orders in March 2021.

HempmeCBD. The proposed administrative order prohibits the respondents from making certain prevention, treatment, or safety claims about dietary supplements, foods, and drugs, unless they have the human clinical testing to substantiate the claims. It also requires them to have competent and reliable scientific evidence when making any other health-related product claims. It requires the respondents to pay the FTC $36,254 and to notify consumers of the Commission’s order.

In December 2020, the FTC announced its first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The Commission took action against six sellers of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range of scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. A summary of the proposed orders settling the agency’s respective complaints can be found on the FTC’s website as a link to each case. The FTC announced final approval of all six orders in March 2021.

Epichouse LLC. The proposed administrative order prohibits the respondents from making certain prevention, treatment, or safety claims about dietary supplements, foods, and drugs, unless they have the human clinical testing to substantiate the claims. It requires them to have competent and reliable scientific evidence when making any other health-related product claims. It requires the respondents to pay $30,000 to the FTC and notify consumers of the Commission’s order.

In December 2020, the FTC announced its first law enforcement crackdown on deceptive claims in the growing market for cannabidiol (CBD) products. The Commission took action against six sellers of CBD-containing products for allegedly making a wide range of scientifically unsupported claims about their ability to treat serious health conditions, including cancer, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s disease, and others. A summary of the proposed orders settling the agency’s respective complaint is provided below. The FTC announced final approval of all six orders in March 2021.

Bionatrol Health, LLC. The proposed administrative order prohibits the respondents from making certain prevention, treatment, or safety claims about dietary supplements, foods, and drugs without human clinical testing to substantiate the claims. It also requires competent and reliable scientific evidence for other health-related product claims, and prohibits the respondents from misrepresenting the cost of any good or service and from charging consumers without their express, informed consent. It requires the corporate respondents and individual respondent Marcello Torre to pay $20,000 to the FTC and to notify consumers of the order.

The owners of a scam that targeted Latina consumers with promises of wealth and financial security are permanently prohibited from selling money-making opportunities under the terms of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

In a complaint filed as part of the FTC’s Operation Income Illusion sweep, the agency alleged that Moda Latina BZ Inc., Esther Virginia Fernandez Aguirre, and Marco Cesar Zarate Quíroz specifically targeted Latina consumers in Spanish-language ads on TV with false promises of earnings at home.

On October 21, 2019, the FTC announced it had halted the deceptive online marketing tactics of two companies and their principals, the first of which allegedly sold fake indicators of social media influence, and the second of which allegedly used fake product reviews posted by its employees on a well-known retail website. In the first case, Devumi, LLC and its owner and CEO, German Calas, Jr., agreed to settle the FTC’s first-ever complaint challenging the sale of fake indicators of social media influence. In the second case, cosmetics firm Sunday Riley Modern Skincare, LLC and its CEO agreed to settle an FTC complaint charging them with misleading consumers by posting fake reviews of the company’s products on a major retailer’s website, at the CEO’s direction, and by failing to disclose that the reviewers were company employees. The court entered the final order on October 22, 2019.