Dietary Firm Settles $1.5M Suit with Sonoma County

Dietary supplement distributors Iovate Health Sciences, Inc., a Canadian corporation, and its American affiliate, Iovate Health Sciences USA, Inc., have agreed to pay a total of $1.5 million in civil penalties and costs in the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the district attorneys’ offices in Sonoma  and nine other Northern California counties.

Including other penalties, it is the second largest multi-district-attorney dietary supplement settlement of its kind in California history.

The lawsuit alleged that Iovate engaged in false and misleading advertising in connection with the marketing and sale of certain dietary supplement products, and violated Proposition 65, which requires a warning label on products that expose consumers to over one-half microgram of lead per day.

 “The Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office is committed to working with prosecutors throughout California to protect our citizens from deceptive advertising and potentially harmful products,” said Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch.

In addition to Sonoma County, district attorneys in Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta and Solano counties were also involved in the suit.

The settlement, signed in Napa County Superior Court, pertains to Iovate products marketed and sold throughout the state, and requires the Iovate companies to pay $1,200,000 in civil penalties that will provide support for the future enforcement of California consumer protection laws. 

The agreement also provides for $300,000 in investigative costs.

The Iovate companies sell dietary supplements in California and throughout the U.S. and Canada. 

The deceptive advertising allegations in the District Attorneys’ lawsuit involved the following Iovate products: Accelis, nanoSLIM, Cold MD, Germ MD, EZ-Swallow Rapid-Tabs, Germ MD Effervescent Tablets, Allergy MD, and Allergy MD Rapid-Tabs.  Additionally, the lawsuit alleged Cold MD was an unapproved new drug, the sales and distribution of which are illegal under California law. 

The violation involving California's Proposition 65 was based on laboratory results that revealed certain lots of Cold MD contained significantly more than one-half microgram of lead in a single dose of the product. 

The product was marketed and sold in violation of Proposition 65, which requires warning labels on all products containing more than one-half of a microgram of lead. 

Iovate stopped selling Cold MD back in 2008.

The Iovate companies did not admit fault or liability, but agreed to abide by a comprehensive court order to prevent any future unfair or deceptive business practices.

Deputy District Attorney Matthew Cheever handled the case for Sonoma County.