Americans are tempted into spending billions of dollars a year ($25 billion in sales for 2009 alone) by manufacturers of dietary, health and fitness supplements based on grand promises of better health, beauty and vitality. What most people don’t know is that these claims are often unsubstantiated, if not demonstrably false, and that the effectiveness of a lot of these supplements are questionable at best.

While these supplements are not as stringently regulated as “drugs” by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), they do still have to comply with certain regulations. Notably, the FDA regulates dietary supplements under a separate set of regulations pursuant to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). For example, manufacturers are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. Additionally, the Federal Trade Commission, with the assistance of other government agencies, is tasked with combating advertising claims such as deceptive promises of weight loss, curing or combating diseases or improving cognitive abilities. States further have their own regulations governing these products in addition to federal law and enforcement.

Even where a manufacturer contends it has complied with federal law and regulations through the use of technically-compliant disclaimers, they may still be held liable under common law misrepresentation theories for making false claims and promises, or overpromising and under-delivering.

CounselOne is currently investigating numerous dietary, health and fitness supplements for false and misleading claims. If you have recently purchased any dietary or health supplements based on the manufacturer’s claims which may sound too good to be true, you may be entitled to compensation.

Call the attorneys at CounselOne today for a free consultation at 310-277-9945.