DoJ to announce actions against dietary supplement makers [Nanny state alert!]

Reuters ^ | 17 November 2015

[Fractal Trader]

Federal agencies including the Department of Justice will announce on Tuesday criminal and civil actions related to unlawful advertising and sale of dietary supplements.

Shares of dietary supplement makers GNC Holdings Inc were down 24 percent in afternoon trading, while those of Vitamin Shoppe fell nearly 8 percent and Herbalife Ltd 2.5 percent.

Herbalife spokesman Alan Hoffman said in an email the investigation had nothing to do with the company.

Representatives of GNC and Vitamin Shoppe were not immediately available for comment.

The DoJ said it would hold a news conference at 3:30 p.m. ET to announce the results of its investigation.

The DoJ said the news conference would be attended by representatives of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Defense and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

GNC Holdings came under scrutiny from the office of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman earlier this year related to certain ingredients used in its herbal supplements.

[Fractal Trader]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_Education_Act_of_1994

This is either directly or indirectly against the policies stated in federal law.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Follow the $$$$$.

[ctdonath2]

Like the CBF and other issues, with this I’m in the odd quandary of feeling obligated to stand up and fight in favor of something I’m not in favor of. I want to live the lesson of the old “first they came for...” parable, conflicted by the weirdness of defending something against legislation when I’d otherwise berate it at length.

[hadaclueonce]

Ask Dr. Oz, when the SHTF with Dear Leader being questioned, he will throw everyone he can under the bus.

The next comment from Dear Leader might be about Sheen.

[American in Israel]

I get the impression the federal government would be happier if we were all dead and they can replace this with a nice little Muslim slaves

[faithhopecharity]

yes and yes and a lot of good points are being posted here

but still.. .there are some advertisements (even on ‘conservative talk radio’ programs) making claims for products that are patently untrue, or for which there is little or no reliable evidence

such as ‘lose 35 pounds of belly fat,’ buy A****400 pills’

the public deserves some basic truth in advertising, is all I’m saying. (If a product is not dangerous, I still believe it should be available for purchase...we consumers are entitled to honesty tho....the fake or unsubstantiated claims really should be cleaned up!)

[freeangel]

Drug companies can’t stand the fact that simple vitamin supplements can do what their multibillion dollar drugs do in some cases.

[rhoda_penmark]

What!? And we’re still reeling from the shock of the Obama tanning bed tax!

[wbill]

One of those money gurus on AM talk radio has been touting the "fact" that most of the supplements purchased don't contain what they say they contain. He says "look for the USP label, though that's not a guarantee either".

Wonder if this has something to do with that? If so, well, I like the idea of "truth in advertising".

[faithhopecharity]

thanks. there are some crooks out there who advertise stuff to lose weight or make little wimps into giant=sized powerful machismo machines, or to make 70 year old people instantly look 17 again

they sell tons of their products
and must make millions and millions and millions

the advertising needs to be cleaned up, its just unfair to take advantage of people this way

[GraceG]

[ yes and yes and a lot of good points are being posted here

but still.. .there are some advertisements (even on ‘conservative talk radio’ programs) making claims for products that are patently untrue, or for which there is little or no reliable evidence

such as ‘lose 35 pounds of belly fat,’ buy A****400 pills’

the public deserves some basic truth in advertising, is all I’m saying. (If a product is not dangerous, I still believe it should be available for purchase...we consumers are entitled to honesty tho....the fake or unsubstantiated claims really should be cleaned up!) ]

We as a society have failed teaching our children the concept of “Buyer Beware”, instead opting for the nanny state to protect and coddle the widdle dawlings.

[Myrddin]

I know what I'm buying at a supplement store. Choosing carefully has kept me healthy and away from the medical profession for most of the last 16 years. I went for 3 flight physicals so that I could do my job. Passed with flying colors. If the government wipes out the supplement stores, I'm pretty well screwed.

[faithhopecharity]

buyer beware is not the complete answer when we are subjected to outright false advertising

the agora, free market... has to be honest...we can then add buyer beware on that, an honest marketplace

imho.

this opinion is worth what you paid for it, ha!
but in a civilized society there is no call for crooked or misleading advertising, which when you think about it really undermine the entire premise or concept of
informed decisions in the marketplace

[SgtHooper]

Hey! That sea choral worked great! No teeth left and a bit dicey coming out, but I feel good!

[faithhopecharity]

ha!
good 4 u!

the weight loss ads i mentioned are fake... there are no serious studies can find to support them

the transform-into-a-sex-monster ads... are pretty much false too (except for a couple small studies of aged men, NOT middle age or younger men)

so.... we need an honest marketplace, or the public will eventually replace it completely with something we all dislike

[SgtHooper]

I despise the way companies are allowed to stretch the truth and outright lie about food content. Organic is not entirely organic, sugar free is not really sugar free, and so on. I’d like to see severe crackdowns/penalties/prison time over such behavior.