A Short Description of the GNC Lawsuit
In April of 2020, a jury in the U.S. District Court For the District of Oregon awarded a whopping $4.75 million to GNC Corporation, one of the largest verdicts ever awarded in an oral claims case. On July 9, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by GNC Corporation against the verdict, and a proposed settlement between GNC and the plaintiffs was reached.
A Short Description of the GNC lawsuit
On March 6, 2020, a jury in the U.S. District of Oregon found GNC liable for deceptive advertising, including the sale of various dietary supplements and products that were not regulated or tested for effectiveness. The verdict found that GNC was liable for “misrepresentation as to the health and/or nutritional value of certain dietary supplements.” GNC has agreed to pay the jury verdict, which is based on a claim that the company knowingly sold a dietary supplement containing undeclared steroids.
A Description of GNC’s Lawsuit against Herbalife
As of this writing, GNC’s lawsuit is the second largest in terms of verdicts. However, Herbalife’s lawsuit is currently the largest in terms of verdicts and settlements (more than $3 billion). Herbalife has also been accused of using deceptive and unfair practices in the marketing and promotion of its products. Herbalife’s business model relies on selling members a product that it claims can help people lose weight by enabling them to eat less and burn more fat. Herbalife provides the product along with motivational information and advertisements.
A Short Description of Herbalife’s Lawsuit against GNC
After the verdict against Herbalife, a plaintiff’s attorney from Portland, Oregon, filed a GNC lawsuit against the company, claiming that it committed fraud. The lawsuit claimed that GNC committed a variety of deceptive and unfair practices in the promotion of its diet and weight loss products, such as falsely claiming that its supplements were safe and effective and claiming that they are safe for people with certain medical conditions. Even though the FTC prohibits most of its advertisements from making claims that their products are safe or effective unless they have been approved by the FDA, GNC’s advertisements continue to promote that these claims. The company’s commercials often use language like “No one has died from…GNC diet and weight loss “no one has been stopped by GNC diet and weight loss” to suggest that their diet pills are safe and effective. The lawsuit also claimed that GNC deceived its customers by selling a diet pill with undeclared ingredients, a supplement that was linked to cancer in animal testing.
According to GNC’s attorney, the company’s products were sold in combination with weight loss programs, diet pills and herbal tea. GNC denied the allegations in the lawsuit, calling the lawsuit frivolous and saying that it would not have advertised these products if they had known that Herbalife was involved.
A Short Description of GNC’s Lawsuit against Herbalife
In addition to claiming that GNC violated California consumer laws by advertising its diet and weight loss products with false and misleading statements, the lawsuit also claimed that GNC was guilty of misrepresentation about the safety of its supplements. For example, GNC was accused of advertising to potential customers that their products were effective for weight loss but then promoting that their products were safe when in fact, it was shown in an ad that the ingredients included in GNC’s weight loss pills cause cancer in animals. GNC did not inform its customers that some of the ingredients listed in their supplements caused cancer in animals when they used them as ingredients in their weight loss pills.
This lawsuit is still ongoing, although the results of the GNC lawsuit have been released and are expected to be released soon. A decision has not yet been made in the case.
