From Miami Herald.
INVESTIGATIONS
FTC: Pill seller targeted fat kids
A Broward man, already charged with crimes related to online diet pills, is accused of false advertising aimed at overweight juveniles.
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@herald.com
In a major campaign to stop the sale of fake diet supplements for overweight kids, the Federal Trade Commission accused Weston businessman Vincent Chhabra on Wednesday of making false and unsubstantiated claims about Pedia Loss, a product marketed for weight loss in children.
''This is of grave concern to us,'' FTC attorney Janet Evans said in a telephone interview. ``Many parents out there are desperate for help.''
But Chhabra attorney Sean Ellsworth said, ``Vincent has no longer any involvement with those companies.''
Ellsworth said that he had limited information but that he believed that Chhabra's involvement with the firms ceased after his arrest in December on criminal charges related to the sale of a controlled substance online without a doctor's prescription.
Evans said the FTC was convinced that Chhabra was associated with the firms when the Pedia Loss claims were made.
The charges came on the same day as House subcommittee hearings in Washington on the marketing of fake dietary supplements to children that takes advantage of the growing concern about juvenile obesity. In a Web cast of the proceedings, Rep. James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) decried the supplements as ''scams . . . preying on the emotions'' of worried parents.
Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, issued a prepared statement, obtained via e-mail, that read: 'Obesity among children is a serious and growing concern. Marketers who exploit parents' concerns should expect close scrutiny from the FTC.''
Also on Wednesday, the FTC issued similar charges against a Utah-based company that markets weight- and fat-loss supplements.
Pedia Loss was touted for kids age 6 and older by DynamicHealthProducts.com: ''Children can still enjoy their favorite food but, with the help'' of the supplement, their bodies will ''slow down the absorption of carbohydrates, allowing more to be burned for energy and less to be stored as fat.'' The price: $69.95, according to the website. The quantity was not listed.
According to Evans, at the FTC's request, the product was removed in January from several websites, including Pedialoss.com and DBSlaboratories.com.
''This is the same issue as with adults, looking for a magic bullet on how to lose weight,'' said Sheah Rarback, a dietitian in the pediatric department at the University of Miami. ``We keep sending out the same message: You can still eat your favorite foods but not as often or as much.
``They need to look for a healthy lifestyle -- and not [by] taking a pill. I work with kids who are 200 or 300 pounds, and we don't give them pills.''
The FTC action was filed against Dynamic Health of Florida, The Chhabra Group, DBS Laboratories, Chhabra as an officer of Dynamic and The Chhabra Group and Jonathan Barash as an officer of DBS Laboratories.
The FTC also complained about unproven claims for another DBS product, Fabulously Feminine, a ''libido enhancer'' for women. ''Your Desire Unleashed,'' reads one ad. The product allegedly contains ginseng, ginkgo biloba leaf and horny goat weed, among other things.
The FDA released a reproduction of a USAPrescription.com Web page that showed Fabulously Feminine marked down from $69.99 to $39.94. Medprescribe.com also was said to offer the product.
Both websites were sold by Chhabra last November to Coral Pharmaceuticals, a Bahamian company, Ellsworth said. They still exist, but a search for Pedia Loss and Fabulously Feminine now show no listings.
Barash has agreed to a consent order, the FTC reported, in which he promises to make no claims about the effectiveness of Pedia Loss and Fabulously Feminine. Chhabra has signed no agreement and is set for an administrative trial, Evans said.
Chhabra, whose offices span two large buildings on North Park Drive in Weston, also faces allegations, in federal court in Virginia, that he led an ongoing criminal enterprise that brought in over $125 million. Released on bail, he faces trial in September.
Those charges focus on pharmacies accessed through websites that sold controlled substances, mostly diet pills, illegally by not requiring that customers be physically examined by doctors.
INVESTIGATIONS
FTC: Pill seller targeted fat kids
A Broward man, already charged with crimes related to online diet pills, is accused of false advertising aimed at overweight juveniles.
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@herald.com
In a major campaign to stop the sale of fake diet supplements for overweight kids, the Federal Trade Commission accused Weston businessman Vincent Chhabra on Wednesday of making false and unsubstantiated claims about Pedia Loss, a product marketed for weight loss in children.
''This is of grave concern to us,'' FTC attorney Janet Evans said in a telephone interview. ``Many parents out there are desperate for help.''
But Chhabra attorney Sean Ellsworth said, ``Vincent has no longer any involvement with those companies.''
Ellsworth said that he had limited information but that he believed that Chhabra's involvement with the firms ceased after his arrest in December on criminal charges related to the sale of a controlled substance online without a doctor's prescription.
Evans said the FTC was convinced that Chhabra was associated with the firms when the Pedia Loss claims were made.
The charges came on the same day as House subcommittee hearings in Washington on the marketing of fake dietary supplements to children that takes advantage of the growing concern about juvenile obesity. In a Web cast of the proceedings, Rep. James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.) decried the supplements as ''scams . . . preying on the emotions'' of worried parents.
Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection, issued a prepared statement, obtained via e-mail, that read: 'Obesity among children is a serious and growing concern. Marketers who exploit parents' concerns should expect close scrutiny from the FTC.''
Also on Wednesday, the FTC issued similar charges against a Utah-based company that markets weight- and fat-loss supplements.
Pedia Loss was touted for kids age 6 and older by DynamicHealthProducts.com: ''Children can still enjoy their favorite food but, with the help'' of the supplement, their bodies will ''slow down the absorption of carbohydrates, allowing more to be burned for energy and less to be stored as fat.'' The price: $69.95, according to the website. The quantity was not listed.
According to Evans, at the FTC's request, the product was removed in January from several websites, including Pedialoss.com and DBSlaboratories.com.
''This is the same issue as with adults, looking for a magic bullet on how to lose weight,'' said Sheah Rarback, a dietitian in the pediatric department at the University of Miami. ``We keep sending out the same message: You can still eat your favorite foods but not as often or as much.
``They need to look for a healthy lifestyle -- and not [by] taking a pill. I work with kids who are 200 or 300 pounds, and we don't give them pills.''
The FTC action was filed against Dynamic Health of Florida, The Chhabra Group, DBS Laboratories, Chhabra as an officer of Dynamic and The Chhabra Group and Jonathan Barash as an officer of DBS Laboratories.
The FTC also complained about unproven claims for another DBS product, Fabulously Feminine, a ''libido enhancer'' for women. ''Your Desire Unleashed,'' reads one ad. The product allegedly contains ginseng, ginkgo biloba leaf and horny goat weed, among other things.
The FDA released a reproduction of a USAPrescription.com Web page that showed Fabulously Feminine marked down from $69.99 to $39.94. Medprescribe.com also was said to offer the product.
Both websites were sold by Chhabra last November to Coral Pharmaceuticals, a Bahamian company, Ellsworth said. They still exist, but a search for Pedia Loss and Fabulously Feminine now show no listings.
Barash has agreed to a consent order, the FTC reported, in which he promises to make no claims about the effectiveness of Pedia Loss and Fabulously Feminine. Chhabra has signed no agreement and is set for an administrative trial, Evans said.
Chhabra, whose offices span two large buildings on North Park Drive in Weston, also faces allegations, in federal court in Virginia, that he led an ongoing criminal enterprise that brought in over $125 million. Released on bail, he faces trial in September.
Those charges focus on pharmacies accessed through websites that sold controlled substances, mostly diet pills, illegally by not requiring that customers be physically examined by doctors.