Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: 06/15/06

Contact person(s):

Media Coordinator, Donna Edwards - 565-3099 Media Spokesperson, Assistant District Attorney Larry Scoufos Deputy District Attorney: Matthew Cheever

Santa Rosa, Sonoma County, California

$1,000,000 SETTLEMENT OF FALSE ADVERTISING CASE AGAINST MAKERS OF DIET PRODUCT XENADRINE RFA-1

Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua, in conjunction with Attorney General Bill Lockyer, and prosecutors from eight other California counties and the City of San Diego, announced today the entry of a $1,000,000 settlement of a lawsuit against Cytodyne Technologies, now known as Nutraquest, Inc., and its president Robert Chinery, the makers of diet pill Xenadrine RFA-1.

The most recent civil complaint filed in Napa County Superior Court Case No. 26-20587 alleged that Cytodyne and Chinery deceptively advertised Xenadrine RFA-1, the company's best-selling diet pill that contained ephedra. According to court papers, Cytodyne deceptively claimed that Xenadrine "is a revolutionary thermogenic diet supplement clinically proven to increase fat-loss by an astounding seventeen times more than diet and exercise alone," it is "clinically proven to increase fat-loss by an unprecedented 1700%," and it is "the only diet supplement in the world clinically proven to increase fat loss by an extraordinary 38.6 times more than diet and exercise alone."

Pursuant to the settlement, a final judgment has been entered against Cytodyne and Chinery, which orders Chinery to pay $600,000 in civil penalties and $400,000 in costs to the eleven prosecuting offices. Further, it prohibits the defendants from making advertising claims about the health benefits, performance, effectiveness, safety or side effects of any weight-loss product unless the claim is true, not misleading, and is based upon competent and reliable scientific evidence that proves such claim. Additionally, the judgment prohibits the defendants from using endorsements or testimonials in advertisements unless the testimonial or endorsement of any weight-loss product represents the user's or endorser's actual experience that resulted from using the product. "Our office is committed to working with the Attorney General and prosecutors throughout the state to protect California consumers from unscrupulous businesses who engage in false or misleading advertising," said Sonoma County District Attorney Stephan Passalacqua.

The judgment also recognizes that consumers who purchased Xenadrine will be provided with restitution in the cases of Jason Park v. Cytodyne, Case No. GIC 768364, and Richard Markowitz v. Cytodyne, Case No. 03-02980, pursuant to settlement agreements approved by the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in the bankruptcy matter, In re Nutraquest, Inc., Civil No. 06-202 (GEB).

Nutraquest filed for bankruptcy protection in 2003 after a number of lawsuits were filed against the company alleging health and medical problems. Last July, Nutraquest, Chinery and three other companies paid the New Jersey Attorney General nearly $1,000,000 to settle another lawsuit that charged them with deceptive advertising.

This case was prosecuted by the District Attorneys of Sonoma, Alameda, Kern, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, and Solano Counties, the California Attorney General, and the City Attorney of San Diego.