Business Blog
Sun sets on Sunrise Nutraceuticals’ unproven claims to beat opiate addiction
For people struggling with opiate addiction – and the family and friends who love them – the claim that Elimidrol would let them “permanently overcome withdrawal – the first time” sounded like the miracle they’d been hoping for. But according to a lawsuit filed by FTC, it was just another broken promise. A settlement with Sunrise Nutraceuticals, the Boca Raton-based business behind Elimidrol, will require the company to have appropriate scientific evidence before making similar claims or other health-related representations.
According to Sunrise, Elimidrol would provide “powerful relief for all opiate withdrawals including prescription opiates, heroin, methadone, and suboxone.” Ads for Elimidrol touted it as “America’s #1 scientifically formulated detox support supplement that will provide you with the strength and comfort to successfully overcome opiate withdrawal by alleviating the intense mental and physical discomfort during the process.”
Don’t just take our word for it, the company claimed. In addition to dramatic testimonials, ads touted a “very high success rate.”
So just what was in the product advertised as so effective that it could counteract addicts’ overwhelming craving for opiates, including heroin? A mix of vitamins, minerals and herbs – including magnolia bark, passionflower herb, oat bran, and “lemon balm aerial parts.”
Filed in federal court in Florida, the FTC’s amended complaint alleged that Sunrise and managing member Joshua Erickson didn’t have proof to back up their promises. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, they’ll need human clinical testing to support disease-related claims, including claims about opiate dependence, addiction, or withdrawal. Other health-related representations will need the support of competent and reliable scientific evidence. The stipulated order also includes a judgment of almost $1.4 million. The defendants will turn over $235,000, with the remaining amount suspended based on their financial condition.
The message for marketers: Don’t promise easy answers to complicated medical conditions unless you have sound science on your side.
It is your choice whether to submit a comment. If you do, you must create a user name, or we will not post your comment. The Federal Trade Commission Act authorizes this information collection for purposes of managing online comments. Comments and user names are part of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) public records system, and user names also are part of the FTC’s computer user records system. We may routinely use these records as described in the FTC’s Privacy Act system notices. For more information on how the FTC handles information that we collect, please read our privacy policy.
The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.
We don't edit comments to remove objectionable content, so please ensure that your comment contains none of the above. The comments posted on this blog become part of the public domain. To protect your privacy and the privacy of other people, please do not include personal information. Opinions in comments that appear in this blog belong to the individuals who expressed them. They do not belong to or represent views of the Federal Trade Commission.