Business & Tech
Another False Advertising Win For Solano Co. DA: iPants Don't Destroy Fat
Several Bay Area district attorneys filed consumer-protection complaint against ad claims the undergarments had anti-cellulite effect.
BAY AREA, CA – A company that claimed its iPant women's undergarment destroyed fat and had a permanent anti-cellulite effect has agreed to pay 10 California district attorney's offices $350,000 in penalties.
Each of the offices in the California Food, Drug and Medical Device Task Force will receive $35,000 to enforce consumer protection laws.
Bay Area district attorney's offices in Napa, Marin, Alameda, Monterey, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma counties are in line for the settlement money that will be paid by Wacoal America Inc.
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The complaint by prosecutors was filed in Napa County Superior Court, and Wacoal has paid $278,069 in direct restitution to California customers as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission,
according to the Napa County District Attorney's Office.
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"Once again, we have a company making false and misleading claims that their product contributes to weight loss just merely by wearing their garment," Napa County District Attorney Gary Lieberstein said in a statement.
- And from Monday: Solano Co. DA Helps Put To Bed Supposedly False 'Cure-All' Advertising Of 'My Pillow'
"California consumers are entitled to be protected from such unfair advertising and this lawsuit and settlement is in furtherance of that ongoing goal," Lieberstein said.
The judgment prohibits Wacoal from making claims regarding the efficacy or effects of any of its products without possessing competent and reliable scientific evidence that substantiates the claims, and prohibits
manufacturing or selling any misbranded, unapproved or falsely advertised medical devices, prosecutors said.
On Monday, 10 California district attorneys led by Alameda County D.A. Nancy O'Malley announced an approximately $1 million settlement of allegations that a Minnesota pillow company engaged in false and misleading advertising.
The district attorneys sued My Pillow Inc. of Chaska, Minnesota, last Wednesday in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland and filed a stipulated settlement, reached with the cooperation of the company and its
attorneys, on the same day.
The lawsuit alleged the company conducted false and misleading advertising by claiming, without any reliable scientific evidence, that the foam pillows could help people suffering from fibromyalgia, insomnia, migraines, sleep apnea, snoring and restless leg syndrome.
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