Maker of Body Solutions Files Chapter 11

Maker of Body Solutions Files Chapter 11

SAN ANTONIO, Texas--Mark Nutritionals Inc., maker of Body Solutions, filed Chapter 11 to allow it to repay its creditors while still doing business. The company has hired a reorganization specialist to run the company and work out issues with Mark Nutritionals' creditors, which include radio stations where disc jockeys had used the product and promoted it on air.

Four radio stations--Infinity Broadcasting Corp., Westwood One Radio Networks, Metro Networks Inc. and Cox Radio--filed a lawsuit worth approximately $10 million in services rendered. Clear Channel Communications Inc. also did millions in advertising for Mark Nutritionals, according to a report in the San Antonio Express-News (www.expressnews.com). However, Clear Channel has not taken formal legal action against the company as yet.

Not only has Mark Nutritionals not been paying its radio bills, but it also has been negligent with its advertising agency fees, according to the Express-News. Reportedly, the San Antonio-based agency, Big, had to shut down due to its biggest client, Mark Nutritionals, not advertising or paying its bills.

Bankruptcy is only one of the company's problems. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn was still deciding if a lawsuit filed by residents in five states who had used Body Solutions should become a class action suit. As of press time, he had not filed his opinion.

Perhaps to combat these mounting financial problems, Mark Nutritionals announced in late July that it had launched its weight-loss line in retail stores such as Albertson's, Walgreens and Wal-Mart. Previously, it had only been available by telephone and through the Internet.

Harry Siskind and his wife, Patti Siskind, started Mark Nutritionals following the 1998 bankruptcy of their weight-loss cookie company, Texas D'Lites. Mark Nutritionals could not be reached for comment by press time.

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