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Lose Weight Quickly and Easily through Slight of Hand...
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Business
Bozos
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Basic Research, A.G. Waterhouse, Klein-Becker, Nutrasport,
Sovage Dermalogic Labs, and BAN
Salt Lake City, Utah
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Their
Evil
Deeds
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Get thee behind me, scrawny Leptoprin wench! Yes, I refer to that annoying blonde who relentlessly hawks overpriced diet pills for $153 a bottle on TV and promises a sure-fire solution for those hopeless souls who are "tired of wasting money on one ordinary diet pill after another and [who've found that] every diet plan has failed." This follows the motto, "Never miss a chance to make a dime off of the desperate and foolish!"
We're told that Leptoprin is backed by two U.S. patents (ooh!) and two published clinical trials and that it is "simply the most powerful, clinically proven weight control compound available." So there! I guess they forgot to mention that just because a product has a patent, that doesn't mean it works!
Apparently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) wasn't impressed. It's filed complaints against parties involved in the manufacture, promotion, and sale of Leptoprin, charging them with "making unsubstantiated fat and weight loss claims, false claims that clinical testing proves certain efficacy claims, and false claims that Daniel B. Mowrey, Ph.D, is a medical doctor."
But, wait—there's more! Included in the FTC complaint are not just the Leptoprin profiteers but also other colluding supplement companies that conveniently operate out of the exact same office in Salt Lake City—all hawking questionable wares. Among these, we have Basic Research, A.G. Waterhouse, Klein-Becker USA, Nutrasport, Sovage Dermalogic Laboratories, and BAN. Company officer Dennis Gay and product developers Daniel B. Mowrey and Mitchell K. Friedlander were also charged. Friedlander should be a pro at this by now; according to Consumer Health Digest, "During the early 1980s, doing business as the Robertson-Taylor Company and at least six other companies, he took in tens of millions of dollars for fraudulent weight-loss aids, hair restorers, sexual stimulants, impotence cures, arthritis remedies, and other vitamin products."
They've peddled gels claiming to help you lose weight, including Dermalin-APg, Cutting Gel, and Tummy Flattening Gel; weight-loss pills Leptoprin and Anorex; and even a weight-loss pill for children called PediaLean. According to the FTC, they don't deliver as promised, and the companies listed knew that.
But, back to the Leptoprin... This stuff must be some amazing, never-before-seen formula, right? Not quite. The formula promoted through April of this year was little more than a combination of ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin (commonly called an ECA stack), calcium, and some junk thrown in that did nothing. It was basically the same as dozens of other products on the market, except at six times the cost. (FYI, Calcium can help weight loss, but only up to the point where you're getting the required RDA. There's no additional benefit in taking more.)
That can't be, you must be saying. After all, the ad tells us that it is "specifically designed for the significantly overweight," and the cranky wench criticizes us by adding, "Leptoprin is much too expensive and much too powerful for the casual dieter." It costs a fortune, so it must be better than other diet products, right? If they charged a million dollars for it, it would be the best ever!
Let's take a look at these "two published clinical trials." The manufacturers said that the first was from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Except—oops!—the journal didn't actually publish the study—they just mentioned its existence in a list of papers that were going to be given at some seminar. That's like your name being printed in a phone book and you claiming that that makes you "a published author!"
The second, from the International Journal of Obesity, wasn't even a study of Leptoprin! The study examined the ECA stack ingredients mentioned above, but there was less caffeine and less ephedrine in the study than Leptoprin used, and it didn't have all the garbage that the Leptoprin manufacturers added. So, the folks selling Leptoprin were claiming support from a study that didn't even study their product!
The original Leptoprin (and its annoying ad) temporarily disappeared from sight earlier this year, when a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ban on ephedrine in diet supplements went into effect in April. But, if you still have money to throw down the drain, don't worry, because it's been replaced with a new, ephedrine-free Leptoprin (a.k.a., "Leptoprin-SD") promoted through a slightly-changed version of the original ad! Wondering what's in the "New" Leptoprin? It still has the caffeine and aspirin, but the calcium is now so miniscule that it's almost nonexistent. They've added ten herbs of dubious value (none approved by the FDA), which includes three items which herb-pushers claim are stimulants (to drive your blood pressure sky-high), three diuretics (to make you lose water weight, which is unhealthy and is only temporary), and one item that's a mild laxative. I guess you'll burn *some* calories just from the dozens of trips you'll have to make to the bathroom each day!
If you're even more of a glutton for punishment, the colluding companies also sell other questionable products that claim to increase your endurance, improve your sex drive, make your lips larger, remove wrinkles, and build muscle. Hurry and buy them before the FTC catches on!
At first, the companies accused of selling the products mentioned above played dumb: "Duh—we don't understand what you're accusing us of, so we can't respond to that. I guess you'll just have to forgot the whole thing." Then, after that failed, they just denied everything. No shock here. But, it gives you an idea of the kind of people involved in this scheme. The idea: Prey on the stupid and desperate, hope to get away with it as you rake in massive amounts of cash, introduce something new to take their money, use different names to fool the public.
Did you see the microscopic print on the Leptoprin ad that said, "The claims for this product have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease"? That was a big warning notice that meant, "Don't waste your money. We didn't offer the government any proof of safety or satisfactory evidence that this even works!" A print ad for the product said it was for people with a body mass index greater than 30 (this indicates that they are clinically obese), and thus claimed to treat obesity. Such a claim is a violation of law, since obesity is a disease.
So how did this all end? In June 2006, the above manufacturers agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission the sum of $3 million and to submit all future ads, and any claims made, and any evidence disproving those claims to the FTC through June 2009. Is this a slap on the hand? It is in my book; after all, there's no telling how many millions in profit that these companies made from deception.
Everyone wants to lose weight without any effort. But, the only weight you're going to lose by buying over-the-counter diet supplements is in your wallet, as you throw money away on products that don't work by companies who knew this and therefore didn't go through the process of having the FDA certify them as effective. Yet, people never seem to learn. A 2002 Harris Poll showed that 59% of Americans thought that supplements were approved by the FDA, and 55% thought supplement manufacturers had to prove that there was solid scientific evidence behind their health and safety claims.
Why can't we trust diet supplements to work? Thank hucksters and their foolish supplement-popping customers for saddling us with the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, which crippled the government's ability to regulate those supplements. Scammers colluded with so-called "health food stores" to open the floodgates and rake in barrels of cash through a campaign of deception and lies. And there's no reason to think it'll stop any time soon.
Read the FTC press release and complaint.
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The
Moment
We've
All Been
Waiting
For...
(the envelope,
please)
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WE HAVE A WINNER!!!!!!
John Wayne Gacy sez:
"These clowns will treat you just like you were in my own home!"
goes to
Basic Research, A.G. Waterhouse,
Klein-Becker, Nutrasport,
Sovage Dermalogic Labs, and BAN
for
False Advertising
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Previous Bozos (Dallas)
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Their Evil Deeds
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Auto Factory
@ 11990 N Central Expy.
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 2002 Worst Bozo Award-Winner! Dishonesty, incompetence, rudeness, "lemons," and so much more.
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Fry's Electronics
@ 12710 Executive Dr.
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2001 Worst Bozo Award-Winner! Continually out-of-product, not helpful, and not professional.
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HP/Compaq
(nationally)
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2003 Worst Bozo Award-Winner! Rudeness, poor management, poor tech support, non-responsive.
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Sport City Toyota
@ 12650 LBJ Freeway
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Obnoxious and seedy behavior
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McDonalds
@ 5430 Ross Ave.
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Hair in food, bad management
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