Herbalife Suit Against FDA Is Withdrawn
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In an attempt to settle its differences with the Food and Drug Administration, Herbalife International on Thursday withdrew a lawsuit in which it alleged that the FDA had engaged in a “widespread, even corrupt, trial-by-publicity campaign” against the company.
The Los Angeles marketer of herb-based weight-loss and nutrition products filed the suit in U.S. District Court here last November in response to a two-year battle with the agency over the way some of the company’s products have been portrayed in government literature and in the press.
‘Blocking a Dialogue’
“We just decided that the lawsuit seems to be blocking a dialogue,” Herbalife General Counsel Perry Turner said. “They keep saying things in the media without directly contacting us. . . . This way we’ll invite them to make direct contact with us and we’ll go from there.”
A spokesman for the FDA in Washington said he was pleased that the allegations had been withdrawn and saw the move as a positive step.
Herbalife and its 29-year-old founder, Mark Hughes, have recently come under fire from several government agencies, including the California attorney general, who filed suit against Herbalife last month, alleging that the company makes false medical claims about some of its products and employs an illegal pyramid-type scheme to market them. The company has denied the allegations.
The Canadian Ministry of Health and Welfare also has charged Herbalife of Canada Ltd. with 24 violations of its Food and Drug Act.
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