By a vote of 3-2, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) decided to fine Genesis Today, Inc. and Pure Health, LLC, manufacturers of a green coffee bean extract (GCBE), in the amount of $9 million for making claims that using GCBE could allow consumers to lose body weight and fat. As detailed by Reed Smith attorneys Sulina Gabale and Matthew Kane in a post on our AdLaw by Request blog, the FTC alleges that the companies’ advertised claims of potential weight loss benefits from using GCBE were deceptive and resulted from a flawed research study. However, the two dissenting FTC commissioners wrote that the amount of the fine was unjustified, namely because it incorporated sales attributed to televised statements by the companies’ founder Lindsey Duncan as well as Dr. Mehmet Oz that were constitutionally protected and non-commercial in nature.
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