Josh Long, Associate editorial director, Natural Products Insider

July 5, 2022

1 Min Read
FTC bans owner and his brands from dietary supplement industry

The Federal Trade Commission on June 30 announced finalizing an administrative consent order that bans two Texas-based companies and their owner from advertising or selling dietary supplements.

Health Research Laboratories LLC, Whole Body Supplements LLC and their owner Kramer Duhon also are banned from making claims that their products treat, cure or reduce the risk of disease.

In a 2020 complaint, FTC alleged the respondents made unsupported claims that The Ultimate Heart Formula (UHF), BG18 and Black Garlic Botanicals prevent or treat cardiovascular and other diseases, and that Neupathic cures, mitigates or treats diabetic neuropathy.

FTC, which only received one public comment on its proposal, voted 5 to 0 to approve the final consent order. Joel Reese, an attorney who represented the respondents, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The case is significant in that it represents the first time an entity or individual has been banned outright from selling dietary supplements. FTC answered in the negative when asked previously by Natural Products Insider whether the agency could point to other administrative or court cases in which a company or individual was banned from the dietary supplement industry.

However, attorneys who represent companies in FTC investigations have cited other forms of injunctive relief prohibiting entities from participating in certain industry activities, including multi-level marketing.

Related:Advertisers of supplements face outright ban under proposed FTC settlement

In 2019, for instance, AdvoCare International L.P. and its former CEO, Brian Connolly, agreed to pay $150 million and be banned from the MLM (multi-level marketing) industry to settle FTC charges that the company operated an illegal pyramid scheme.

 

 

About the Author(s)

Josh Long

Associate editorial director, Natural Products Insider, Informa Markets Health and Nutrition

Josh Long directs the online news, feature and op-ed coverage at Natural Products Insider, which targets the health and wellness industry. He has been reporting on developments in the dietary supplement industry for over a decade, with a focus on regulatory issues, including at the Food and Drug Administration.

He has moderated and/or presented at industry trade shows, including SupplySide East, SupplySide West, Natural Products Expo West, NBJ Summit and the annual Dietary Supplement Regulatory Summit.

Connect with Josh on LinkedIn and ping him with story ideas at [email protected]

Education and previous experience

Josh majored in journalism and graduated from Arizona State University the same year "Jake the Snake" Plummer led the Sun Devils to the Rose Bowl against the Ohio State Buckeyes. He also holds a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law, was admitted in 2008 to practice law in the state of Colorado and spent a year clerking for a state district court judge.

Over more than a quarter century, he’s written on various topics for newspapers and business-to-business publications – from the Yavapai in Arizona and a controversial plan for a nuclear-waste incinerator in Idaho to nuanced issues, including FDA enforcement of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA).

Since the late 1990s, his articles have been published in a variety of media, including but not limited to, the Cape Cod Times (in Massachusetts), Sedona Red Rock News (in Arizona), Denver Post (in Colorado), Casper Star-Tribune (in Wyoming), now-defunct Jackson Hole Guide (in Wyoming), Colorado Lawyer (published by the Colorado Bar Association) and Nutrition Business Journal.

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