Ephedra settlement -- Nutritional company pays to settle claims of false advertising

By Erik Ricasa

Published on July 22, 2005

In response to claims that they underplayed the risks and exaggerated the benefits of their products, Nutraquest and three related companies have agreed to pay out a large settlement to the state of New Jersey. The companies have also agreed to discontinue all unsubstantiated advertising claims.

Nutraquest is the successor to a company that previously manufactured ephedra-based products, including Xenadrine R-F-A-One, the drug which was found to have contributed to the death of 23 year-old Orioles pitcher Steve Bechler. Bechler died of heat stroke during spring training after taking Xenadrine R-F-A-One.

The FDA banned products containing ephedra in April of 2004. Nutraquest maintains that they discontinued the sale of ephedra-based products in 2003 when profits went down.

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