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FTC: Three Pills and Special Soap
“Obesity Treatment” Won’t Wash Away the Pounds
Agency Charges Spanish-Language Weight-Loss Claims Are False and
Unsubstantiated.
The Federal Trade Commission is charging the sellers of the “Centro
Natural de Salud Obesity Treatment” with making false and unsubstantiated claims
that their product causes rapid, substantial, and permanent weight loss. The
“treatment” consists of three different pills, taken with breakfast, lunch, and
dinner, and a bar of “special soap” to “reduce dress
sizes.”
According to the FTC’s
complaint, in Spanish-language infomercials and on the Internet the marketers
made claims, such as:
“Lose 35 pounds in 2 months”
“Everything you lose, you will never gain
back”
“No diets, no skipping dinner, no calorie counting, no side
effects”
The defendants, Centro Natural Services, Inc., Xavier Rodriguez, and
Rocio Diaz are located in Santa Ana, California. The complaint charges they
falsely claimed the Centro Natural de Salud Obesity Treatment causes users: to
lose substantial amounts of weight rapidly, without reducing calorie intake;
safely to lose as much as a half pound per day for multiple weeks and months;
and/or to lose weight permanently. The complaint also charges the defendants had
no substantiation for their weight-loss claims.
The FTC is asking the court to order a halt to the defendants’ claims
pending trial. It will seek a permanent halt to their operation, and redress for
consumers.
The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the complaint was 5-0.
The complaint was filed October 16, 2006 in the U.S. District Court for the
Central District of California.
NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to
believe” that the law has been or is being violated, and it appears to the
Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The complaint is not a
finding or ruling that the defendant has actually violated the law. The case
will be decided by the court.
Copies of the complaint are
available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer
Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.
20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and
unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help
consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish
(bilingual counselors are available to take complaints), or to get free
information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP
(1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/complaint.htm. The FTC
enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related
complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to
thousands of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and
abroad.
If you have been the victim of a fitness scam please contact FitnessScam @ askrocco.com
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