TrimSpa, Other Weight Loss Pills Fined for False Claims

Marketers of Xenadrine EFX, One A Day Weight Smart, CortiSlim and TrimSpa fined for false claims including rapid weight loss and reduction in the risk of osteoporosis.

The marketers of four weight loss pills fined for $25 million for making false advertising claims ranging from rapid weight loss to reducing the risk of cancer,

Marketers of Xenadrine EFX, One A Day Weight Smart, CortiSlim and TrimSpa fined for false claims including rapid weight loss and reduction in the risk of osteoporosis.

The Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said the products would remain on store shelves, but that the companies would have to stop making the false claims.

"What we challenge is the marketing of the claims," she said. "The marketers are required to back up the claims with the science and if they can't do that they can't make the claim. But we don't ban the products from the shelves."

Majoras cautioned the estimated 70 million Americans trying to lose weight not to turn to pills. "You're not going to find weight loss in a bottle of pills," she said. "They not only didn't have studies to support the claim, they actually had a study that went the other way."

Some of the products marketed their claims through infomercials or celebrity endorsements. Anna Nicole Smith, for example, has endorsed TrimSpa. [SOURCE]