The Chicago Tribune reported that Ms. Winfrey’s company Harpo Inc. also assisted an investigation led by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan “that led to three lawsuits against makers and marketers of dietary supplements made from acai berries.”
Soon after Ms. Winfrey’s show featured a segment where Dr. Oz discussed the “anti-aging properties” of the acai berry last year, Internet marketers began using Ms. Winfrey’s and Dr. Oz’s names and/or photos to sell their products, the complaint states. However, neither claims to have sponsored such products.
Similar instances have occurred with other substances and purported health benefits, according the Tribune article. Winfrey's website has received more than 2000 complaints related to acai-berry-related products, Marc Rachman, an attorney for Harpo, told the Tribune.
Attorney General Madigan filed two separate lawsuits against three suppliers and their related entities, including Advanced Wellness Research, its successor Netalab, Crush LLC and its owner TMP Nevada, Inc.
According to the complaints, the companies offer consumers a “free trial” to entice them to sign up by providing a credit card number for shipping and handling charges. The companies use the “free trial” period to hook the consumers into a continuity sales program, where consumers are often unaware that they have agreed to buy a monthly supply of acai berry supplements (or other health supplement products) for $29 to $89 per month unless they cancel their orders within 14 days.
The third complaint involves Amirouche & Norton, LLC and Larby Amirouche, an affiliate marketer that uses Internet search engines, pop-up ads, websites and advertising on social networking sites to drive Internet traffic to suppliers’ websites.
The complaint alleges the marketer misleads consumers through false advertising and false endorsements. The affiliate marketers receive compensation when Internet users click-through to the sellers’ sites and commission for sales resulting from traffic that they route to the sellers’ site.
The three suits ask the court to enter a permanent injunction barring the defendants from selling dietary supplements or continuing with misleading marketing schemes that impact Illinois consumers. The lawsuits also ask the court to order the defendants to pay restitution for consumers who have lost money and civil penalties of $50,000 for violating the Illinois Consumer Fraud and Deceptive Business Practices Act.