ThermoLife International Files Suit Against A1 Supplements And NetNutri.com For False Advertising, Identifying Hundreds Of Misbranded, Adulterated, And Illegal Supplements Sold To Consumers On These Online Marketplaces
Nov 28, 2018, 15:58 ET
PHOENIX, Nov. 28, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- On November 21, 2018 and November 28, 2018, ThermoLife International, LLC filed lawsuits in Arizona Federal District Court asserting Latham Act false advertising, conspiracy, and other claims against A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com. ThermoLife's Complaints assert that A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com have unfairly competed with ThermoLife in the Dietary Supplement market by knowingly and willfully falsely advertising and selling anabolic steroids, aromatase inhibitors, and illegal and unsafe amphetamine like drug stimulants falsely labeled as Dietary Supplements through their online marketplaces.
ThermoLife is a leading technology supplier in the sports nutrition and supplement industry. ThermoLife holds at least 16 patents with more than 450 claims related to novel uses of Nitrates and Amino Acid/nitrate compounds and compositions in Dietary Supplements and food products. ThermoLife is the market leader in nitrate/nitrite technology and the sole and exclusive distributor of its top-selling patented creatine nitrate.
The sale of illegal and unsafe Dietary Supplements has plagued the Dietary Supplement industry for years. As ThermoLife's Complaint alleges, unscrupulous Dietary Supplement companies like A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com have sought to boost sales by illegally selling products that contain drugs but are falsely labeled as Dietary Supplements. In many cases, these products contain anabolic steroids or synthetic amphetamine like stimulants and ingredients that were previously approved for sale as drugs by the Federal Drug Administration, but proved too dangerous for use even in prescription drugs. Yet now, as the Complaint alleges, Dietary Supplement companies like A1 Supplements, NetNutri.com, and others soon to be named, are dangerously including these illegal drug ingredients in the products they sell, with no warning to consumers as to the possible serious adverse effects from these drugs.
As ThermoLife asserts, companies like A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com have flooded the market with unsafe products that are drugs and not compliant with the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 ("DSHEA"). By selling illegal, misbranded, and adulterated drug products as Dietary Supplements through their online marketplaces, companies like A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com falsely legitimize the sale of products that include drugs. Consumers believe products sold on A1Supplements.com and NetNutri.com are safe and legal. According to ThermoLife's Complaint, in fact, hundreds of products sold on these websites contain illegal and dangerous synthetic drug ingredients.
ThermoLife's Complaint includes over 60 pages of detailed factual findings, explaining in great detail how the FDA has already declared that hundreds of products sold by A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com contain ingredients that are illegal and unsafe drugs, not legal in Dietary Supplements. Yet, A1 Supplements, NetNutri.com and many others continue to falsely advertise and sell products that include drugs to unknowing consumers, including to minors who can easily purchase these drug products from their web sites.
When reached for comment, ThermoLife's founder, Ron Kramer, explained that these Complaints are only the tip of the iceberg. "ThermoLife cannot and will not stand by while online Dietary Supplement marketplaces knowingly and willfully market and sell products labeled as Dietary Supplements that contain drugs, which are in direct competition with fully compliant Dietary Supplements that contain ThermoLife's patented ingredients and technology. The FDA has already determined that the ingredients found in the over 275 products that we identify in the Complaints are not legal for use in Dietary Supplements. These companies are recklessly putting the health of any consumer that buys these products in danger, all for their own personal greed, and at the same time they are stealing sales from us, and from our customers who license ThermoLife's ingredients and sell legal Dietary Supplement products. A1 Supplements, NetNutri.com, and others are blatantly selling DRUGS falsely labeled Dietary Supplements and it has to stop. While A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com are two of the worst offenders, there are plenty of other companies selling illegal, misbranded, and adulterated drug products and these two lawsuits are just the tip of the iceberg. ThermoLife will not rest until the industry is rid of companies that make and/or sell drug products falsely labeled as Dietary Supplements, and the companies that have sold these products are disgorged all their profits, and forced to pay back the money they stole by selling illegal drug products falsely labeled as Dietary Supplements."
ThermoLife's Complaint seeks an injunction, barring further false advertising and actual damages. As a result of A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com's willfully false advertising, ThermoLife also seeks an order from the court disgorging A1 Supplements and NetNutri.com's profits on their sales of the over 275 products identified in ThermoLife's Complaints. Judgment here could exceed tens of millions of dollars.
ThermoLife is represented in the matter by Gregory B. Collins of Kercsmar & Feltus PLLC and Wendy J. Olsen of Stoel Rives, LLP.
About ThermoLife International
Founded in 1998, ThermoLife is a world leader in patented ingredients and technology for use in dietary supplements, specializing in sports nutrition. ThermoLife controls a global patent portfolio of 27 patents spanning more than 15 countries including more than 450 valid and issued claims on the use of nitrates in dietary supplements. ThermoLife collaborates with leading manufacturers in the sports nutrition and dietary supplement industry to provide innovative ingredients to help offer superior patent-protected products to end users.
For more information contact [email protected], and see www.ThermoLife.com, www.NO3-T.com, and www.MaxNox.info
SOURCE ThermoLife International, LLC