Exaggerated Claims Cost Seller of Diet Pills $81,412 in Civil Fines
A Ventura County judge has ordered a Van Nuys mail-order diet pill business and its owner to pay civil penalties of $81,412 for false advertising and unlawful business practices.
Superior Court Judge Jerome Berenson filed a tentative ruling Monday ordering Health Energetic Inc. and Leo Daboub of Newport Beach to pay the penalties to Ventura County and to make restitution to 27 customers who filed complaints, Deputy Dist. Atty. Barry B. Klopfer said.
The tentative ruling is the basis for a final ruling that the judge will file later, said Klopfer, who is head of the consumer and environmental protection division of the Ventura County district attorney’s office.
Consumer Complaints
Klopfer brought the civil case against the company, which was investigated by the State Department of Health Services after purchasers of the pills complained that they did not work and that they could not get refunds.
Klopfer said Health Energetic Inc. sold diet pills by mail and through The Diet Store, which has retail outlets in Tarzana, Granada Hills, Van Nuys, Burbank and Los Angeles.
Klopfer said Daboub sharply reduced business and closed many of the stores after a court injunction in February, 1985, forced him to discontinue his advertising campaign.
Admits Violating Code
Daboub admitted violating the Business and Professions Code by advertising his diet pills as an “amazing new discovery” and promising specific weight losses “even if you cheat,” Klopfer said.
Klopfer said Daboub’s pills were made from standard pharmaceutical products and were effective only in conjunction with a diet and exercise program.
Berenson, a retired Ventura County judge, presided over a three-day trial in June to establish penalties, Klopfer said.
Berenson ruled that there had been 6,513 victims, based on the number of Ventura County residents who would have seen his full-page advertisements in two newspapers.
Klopfer argued for penalties of $220,000, but Berenson set the lower figure based on testimony that Daboub had lost more than $1 million and fallen into debt after he was forced to stop advertising.
