Group of Weight-Loss Firms $500,000 Lighter

A group of Canoga Park mail-order companies marketing “an amazing weight-loss tablet”’ billed as being able to flush calories from the body without dieting, agreed Thursday to pay $500,000 as part of an out-of-court settlement in a civil lawsuit that accused the firm of false and misleading advertising.

The settlement stemmed from a complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in November by the district attorney’s consumer protection unit. The suit alleged that four companies and four individuals sold the product, Amitol/Am, through the mail by using exaggerated claims in 806 ads placed in 268 newspapers and periodicals nationwide last year.

Charles Kelson, the consumer unit’s supervising investigator, said the ads claimed that Amitol/Am would produce dramatic weight loss no matter how much food was eaten by the person using the product.

Amount Is Record

The $500,000, which includes civil penalties, court costs and rebates to consumers, is the largest monetary judgment obtained by the unit in its 15-year history, Kelson said.

Named as defendants in the suit were Continental Health Co., doing business as Dyna Labs, Amatol Industries, Dresner Communications and Pacific Order Processing Co., all located at 8025 Deering Ave. Also named as defendants were Frances Stephanie Brennan of Topanga, Continental’s chief executive officer, and three officials of Dresner Communications.

The ads included before and after pictures of a woman who claimed to have lost 51 pounds in six weeks, down to a weight of 118, Kelson said. Investigators identified Brennan as the woman in the ads, he said.

The complaint alleges that the companies pushed its product with claims such as “(It) prevents calories from forming body fat” and “Some people have reported as much as three pounds (lost) the first 24 hours!”

The ads also falsely stated that their product had been endorsed by the Japanese Medical Assn., Kelson said.

Exaggeration Barred

An injunction filed as part of Thursday’s settlement bars the defendants from making “exaggerated and misleading claims” about the product, or claims that are not representative of what consumers “will generally achieve by using the product.”

Investigators found that the company had mailed about 40,000 bottles each month from last January to October. With charges of $19.95 for a 30-day supply and $35.95 for a 60-day supply, Kelson said, the business was grossing more than $800,000 a month.

Kelson said the company bought the product from a supplier, not named in the lawsuit, at a price of $1.68 for a 30-day supply. The stipulated agreement was entered into with no admission of wrongdoing.