Dallas Fort Worth Injury Lawyer Blog
A WV Kanawha County woman has filed a lawsuit against the makers of popular weight-loss product Hydroxycut, alleging that they falsely marketed their products as safe and effective dietary supplements.
In a suit filed last week in Kanawha Circuit Court, Rhonda M. Hawkins maintains that Ontario-based Iovate Health Sciences, Inc., and its subsidiaries and related companies defrauded the public by advertising that Hydroxycut products worked and had no adverse health effects.
The suit maintains that there are many other plaintiffs similarly situated as Hawkins, and asks the court to certify it as a class action.
The lawsuit could end up joining similar lawsuits in other jurisdictions and become a multidistrict litigation in federal court, said Harry Bell, the Charleston lawyer who filed the suit.
According to the suit, at least 9 million packages of Hydroxycut products were sold in the U.S. in 2008.
Earlier this year, the makers of Hydroxycut agreed to recall at least 14 varieties of its products after the Food and Drug Administration issued a public warning about health risks associated with the supplements.
Through the federal agency’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, 23 cases of Hydroxycut-associated liver toxicity have been reported since 2002, the suit maintains. One patient required a liver transplant, while another died in 2007, according to the suit.
The FDA recommended all consumers to stop taking all Hydroxycut products.
Dietary supplements fall under the Dietary Supplements Health and Education Act of 1994.
“They are not presently regulated by the FDA, and the safety profiles of many are unknown,” the suit states.
The suit maintains that Hydroxycut’s makers “essentially claim that every product marketed by [them] is evaluated during its development for the safety of its individual ingredients.”
Hydroxycut packaging says that it increases energy, burns calories and controls appetite, as well as being made from “clinically proven ingredients,” according to the suit.
“Hydroxycut did not provide the attributes and benefits [Hawkins and others] reasonably expected to receive, sought and thought they were receiving,” the suit maintains.
If you or a family member has been personally injured because of the fault of someone else: by the use of dangerous drugs, bad products, or toxic injury etc then please contact the Fort Worth Texas Defective Drugs Product Liability Attorney Dr. Shezad Malik. For a no obligation, free case analysis, please call 817-255-4001 or Contact Me Online.
The Dr. Shezad Malik Law is currently evaluating and accepting Hydroxycut Side Effects cases.