Metabolife founder sentenced
From Times Wire Services
Michael J. Ellis, the founder and former president of dietary supplement maker Metabolife International Inc., was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for lying to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Ellis pleaded guilty last year to making false statements to the FDA in 1999 about Metabolife’s having a “claims-free history.” Metabolife filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2005 after facing hundreds of lawsuits over its weight-loss products containing ephedra. The ingredient, which has since been banned, is linked to heart problems and strokes.