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For Release: August 20, 2007 =

Weight-Loss Patch Manufacturer Banned From Selling Weight-Loss = Patches, Will=20 Pay $180,000

FTC: Products Worn or Rubbed on the Skin Do Not Cause Weight=20 Loss

A company and its owner are banned from selling weight-loss patches = in the=20 future and will pay $180,000 to settle Federal Trade Commission charges = that=20 advertising claims for their weight-loss patches were false and = unsubstantiated.=20

According to the FTC, Transdermal Products International Marketing=20 Corporation and William H. Newbauer sold a supposed weight-loss patch to = about=20 two dozen domestic and foreign retailers, and provided them with sample=20 deceptive advertising and bogus substantiation materials, including = purported=20 expert endorsements and clinical studies of their weight-loss patch by = Marvin=20 Kaplan. The retailers in turn used these materials to sell the = weight-loss=20 patches to consumers in the U.S. and abroad. The sample advertising made = false=20 or unsubstantiated claims about the product, including that it caused = weight=20 loss and that the main ingredient, sea kelp, had been approved by the = FDA for=20 weight loss.

The order entered against the defendants requires that they pay = $180,000 in=20 three $60,000 payments over 18 months. If they fail to make their = payments on=20 time =96 or if they materially misled the Commission as to the extent of = their=20 ability to pay =96 the order calls for a judgment against them of = $900,000.

In addition to banning them from selling weight-loss patches, the = order also=20 bars the defendants from making claims that have been identified by the = FTC as=20 raising =93red flags=94 for false weight-loss advertising, including = that a product=20 worn or rubbed on the skin is effective for weight loss; that it causes=20 substantial weight-loss without reducing calories or increasing = exercise; that=20 it safely enables users to lose more than three pounds per week for a = period of=20 more than four weeks; or that it causes permanent weight loss. In = addition, the=20 defendants cannot misrepresent that the FDA has approved or is about to = approve=20 any transdermal product, dietary supplement, food, drug, device or = cosmetic for=20 its intended use. Also, they cannot claim that any of these types of = products=20 cause weight loss or melt or burn body fat or affect the body=92s = metabolism of=20 fat unless they have competent and reliable scientific evidence to back = up the=20 claim. Finally, the order prohibits the defendants from providing their = trade=20 customers with the means and instrumentalities to make false and = deceptive=20 claims.

The Commission vote to authorize staff to file the stipulated final = order was=20 5-0. Senior District Court Judge Thomas N. O=92Neill, Jr., signed the = order, which=20 was entered in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of = Pennsylvania=20 on July 24, 2007.

NOTE: This stipulated final order is for settlement purposes only and = does=20 not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law = violation.

The FTC=20 works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair = business=20 practices and to provide information to help spot, stop, and avoid them. = To file=20 a complaint in English or Spanish, click http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/com= plaint.shtm=20 or call 1-877-382-4357. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity = theft,=20 and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, = online=20 database available to more than 1,600 civil and criminal law enforcement = agencies in the U.S. and abroad. For free information on a variety of = consumer=20 topics, click http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/cons= umer.shtm.=20

MEDIA CONTACT:=20: Jackie Dizdul
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2472 =
STAFF CONTACT:=20: Lemuel W. Dowdy or Joel N. Brewer
Bureau of Consumer=20 Protection
202-326-2981 or 202-326-2967

Federal Trade Commission Protecting = America's=20 Consumers

Weight-Loss Patch Manufacturer Banned From Selling Weight-Loss = Patches, Will=20 Pay $180,000

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