Politics & Government

Hoodia Maker Banned from Selling in Santa Cruz County

Santa Cruz prosecutors launched an investigation that found Hoodia Gordonii actually didn't have the plant in them. Several companies were named in the settlement.

After finding false claims that companies selling the rare appetite suppressant Hoodia by companies reportedly selling products which contained the rare appetite suppressant didn't have it, those companies were forbidden from selling in Santa Cruz and nine other counties.

 Florida-based defendants GeoPharma, Inc., Breakthrough Engineered Nutrition, Inc., Mihir Taneja and Carol Dore-Falcone were selling dietary supplements called DEX-L10, Hoodia Gordonii DEX-L10, DEX-L10 Complete and/or Hoodia Gordonii DEX-L10, until a ban was passed in September.

 The case began as an investigation by Santa Cruz County District Attorney's office and was later joined in by prosecutors in Napa, Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Orange, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, and Sonoma.

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In court papers filed by the district attorneys, they noted that Hoodia gordonii first came to the public's awareness in November 2004, when the television show 60 Minutes reported on the use of a native succulent plant, known as Hoodia Gordonii, by San tribesmen in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa to suppress appetite on long journeys, according to a press release filed by Santa Cruz Prosecutor Bob Lee.

The tribesmen reported that they cut off parts of the Hoodia plant and sucked on it during long walks and that it curbed their appetite. Partially as a result of this news story, companies began to produce pills, capsules, gel caps and liquids that allegedly contained Hoodia and marketed them to consumers as appetite suppressant and weight loss product, the release continued.

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As the supply of the plant dwindled, some suppliers began substituting less expensive material and claiming it was Hoodia. Companies began testing their products and other company's products for the presence of Hoodia and found many products on the market did not contain any Hoodia. Two of these products were Dex-L10 and Dex-L10 Complete.

Prosecutors filed an injunction against the company making those products, GeoPharma, which was once so profitable it was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. It went bankrupt after the injunction.

 "When a company uses false or deceptive advertising to sell their products, we are proscribed by law to stop the company from continuing the advertising and to obtain civil penalties to penalize the company," said Bob Lee. "While our goal is to stop unlawful advertising, this company decided they were not able to continue in business without violating our laws."

The settlement includes an injunction against the principals of the company, Mihir Taneja and Carol Dore-Falcone. They are enjoined from making any claims about the efficacy of a product without having competent and reliable scientific evidence that substantiates such claim or representation.


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