CHICAGO—The Attorneys General of Illinois, California and Oregon jointly announced a $3.3 million settlement with Bayer HealthCare, Leverkusen, Germany, regarding the company’s use of claims that its One A Day Men’s multivitamins would reduce the risk of prostate cancer. The complaints alleged the company deceptively claimed the dietary supplement, which contained selenium, would reduce the risk of prostate cancer; however, the AGs charged the company knew or should have known the product did not do so and, in fact, contained ingredients that could increase the risk of prostate cancer.
Bayer’s “Strike Out Prostate Cancer" campaign, in which the company partnered with Major League Baseball to promote the One a Day Men’s products, was highlighted in the complaint as an example of the allegedly deceptive marketing claims. In that campaign, Bayer used billboards, print and broadcast advertisements, and testimonials from professional baseball players to make implied claims that One A Day Men’s Products reduced the risk of prostate cancer.
Under the terms of the settlement, Bayer is prohibited from marketing its One a Day Men’s products as preventing prostate cancer, or any other disease, unless the claims are based on competent and reliable scientific evidence. Further, the company must not make any misleading claims or health claims for its products unless the claims are fully substantiated and do not violate federal laws covering the marketing of dietary supplements.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) also issued a statement on the settlement. CSPI sued Bayer in federal court in California in October 2009 regarding the selenium claims at issue; the suit was dismissed on technical grounds. The organization said it was planning to file suit in another court, but will not move forward in the wake of the settlement agreement with the AGs.
CSPI noted this is not the first time the marketing for One A Day products has been called into question. Bayer reached a consent decree with FTC in 2007 that mandated payment of a $3.2 million civil fine to settle charges related to weight-loss claims for One A Day that FTC said were in violation of an earlier settlement with the agency.
