Hydroxycut Legal History Includes 2003 False Advertising Suit

By Jim Greene

Published on February 17, 2010

Personal injury lawsuits pending against the current makers of the nutritional supplement Hydroxycut are part of a troubled legal history for the product, marketed as a weight loss aid. In 2003, a previous owner of the product line was sued by the state of Missouri for false advertising.

MuscleTech Research and Development, Inc., owned the Hydroxycut line when Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon charged false advertising in a Hydroxycut lawsuit filed in St. Louis in 2003. Nixon's suit alleged that MuscleTech's claims that Hydroxycut was "clinically proven" and a "fat burner" were false. He also accused the company of using a "before" photo of a woman whose figure had not recovered from a recent pregnancy.

Missouri Lawsuit Included Concerns about Ephedra

Nixon also objected to the fact that Hydroxycut labeling included no warnings about the potential side effects of ephedra, since banned from over-the-counter use in diet products by the FDA. At the time, ephedra was the principle active ingredient for increasing energy and reducing appetite, a function left to huge amounts of caffeine in the current version.

Iovative Health Sciences, Inc. now owns the Hydroxycut line, and is defending itself against charges that the product formulation it recalled last year, under pressure from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was the cause of numerous health problems for uses. The most serious issues reported to the FDA were cases of liver damage, ranging from mild to fatal. Other symptoms were typical for caffeine overdose, including headaches, dizziness, anxiety, and elevated heart rate and blood pressure.

If you or someone you know suffered liver damage or other health issues after taking Hydroxycut, contact an experienced defective products/personal injury attorney. You may be eligible for financial compensation to help you deal with medical and other expenses, for loss of income, and for pain and suffering.

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