“A federal class action claims Dynakor Pharmacal defrauds consumers by claiming its “Akavar” diet pill enables you to “eat all you want and still lose weight. We couldn’t say it in print if it wasn’t true.” It isn’t true, the class says, nor is the claim that the drug produces “clinically proven weight loss of 1,603% without changing eating or exercise habits.”
Defendants include Dynakor Pharmacal LLC, The Carter-Reed Co. LLC, PC Mgmt Inc., Basic Research LLC, Joseph Bode, Sheila Erickson, Walgreen Co., General Nutrition Corp., dba GNC, Drugstore.com, Western Holdings LLC, Dennis Gay, Daniel Mowrey, dba American Phytotherapy Research Laboratory, and Mitchell Friedlander.”
Archive for May, 2009
Diet pills called “snake oil” in class action
May 28, 2009FTC targets scams aimed at Spanish speakers
May 28, 2009“The Federal Trade Commission has charged a mortgage foreclosure “rescue” operation with falsely promising Spanish-speaking consumers who are behind on their mortgage payments that it would stop foreclosure. Many people who paid the defendants ultimately lost their homes, and others avoided foreclosure only through their own efforts. At the FTC’s request, a federal court temporarily halted the defendants’ practices and froze their assets. The FTC seeks to stop the deceptive claims and obtain consumer redress from the defendants, whom consumers have paid at least $3.3 million.”
Court rules against LifeLock’s fraud alert service
May 28, 2009“With a fraud alert on a consumer’s credit profile, banks and other businesses are required to make a reasonable effort to check with a consumer before opening a new line of credit in his or her name.
The consumer normally has to contact a credit reporting bureau directly to place the alert, and then repeat the process every 90 days for as long as the risk remains — a minor hassle that LifeLock and other companies have been happy to help consumers avoid, for a fee. On its face, the business model appeared consistent with FACTA, which allows fraud alerts to be placed by third parties acting on behalf of the consumer.
But in its lawsuit, Experian complained that LifeLock (.pdf) “surreptitiously placed hundreds of thousands” of alerts on Experian files “by posing as the consumer,” even when there was no suspicion of identity theft. LifeLock then renewed the alerts every 90 days.
Claiming it was losing “millions of dollars every year” processing such requests, Experian asked a judge to rule that LifeLock was engaging in unlawful and unfair business practices under California’s Unfair Competition Law.
U. S. District Judge Andrew Guilford granted the motion (.pdf) last week, finding that federal lawmakers, in writing FACTA, did not intend for consumers to be able to contract with a business to place fraud alerts.”
Delta and competitor colluded over bag fee: suit
May 27, 2009“A federal class action claims Delta Air Lines and AirTran Airways colluded to charge first-bag fees. Both airlines, which are each other’s principal competitors, began charging a $15 first bag fee in fall 2008.
Before then, “competition between Delta and AirTran prevented either airline from charging a first-bag fee for fear of losing sales to the other,” say named plaintiffs Brent Avery and David Watson.
Earlier that year, Delta Air Lines acquired Northwest Airlines, which charges a $15 first-bag fee. Delta then was asked whether it would charge a fee as well to match Northwest’s practices. “Considering that AirTran did not impose a similar fee on consumers, Delta stated that it had ‘no plans’ to charge consumers a first bag fee,’” according to the complaint. “
Most litigious man sues Guiness world records
May 27, 2009“The hyper-litigious Jonathan Lee Riches has sued Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, Martha Stewart, Somali pirates and just about everybody else. Now he’s suing Guinness World Records for allegedly dubbing him “the world’s most litigious man.”
Please don’t laugh just yet, because here’s the funny part: A Guinness spokeswoman told me this morning that the company never had any intention to honor him with inclusion in their next book, and has not been tracking his dubious achievements.”
Housing law protects tenant nationwide
May 26, 2009“The Associated Press Reports:
- Buried in a housing law signed [last] week by President Barack Obama are protections that will help thousands of renters stay in their homes — at least for awhile — after their landlord has been foreclosed on.
- The law allows tenants to remain in their foreclosed rentals through the end of their lease and then 90 days after that before being forced to vacate by the lender. Renters without leases will have 90 days, a significant improvement over what most received before: almost no notice at all. “Until this law was enacted, there had been no national protections for any of these households,” said Linda Couch, deputy director at the National Low Income Housing Coalition. “This gives renters time to adjust their lives.”
CircuitCity.com: alive and well and better than ever!
May 26, 2009“A New York company has completed its acquisition of defunct retailer Circuit City Stores Inc.’s e-commerce business and relaunched what it calls a “new and improved” CircuitCity.com Web site.
Port Washington, N.Y.-based Systemax Inc. (NYSE: SYX) said in a statement that it plans to compete with other online retailers by offering discounted prices, fast shipping and a wide selection of products, as well as offering photo galleries and videos of thousands of consumer electronics and computer products. The company paid $14 million in cash for the site and related assets, plus a share of revenue over 30 months generated using assets it picked up from the former Richmond, Va.-based company.”
