Additional Information for Vitality Wellness & Weight Loss

GOVERNMENT ACTION
Marketers of ‘NutriMost Ultimate Fat Loss System’ Settle FTC Charges
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On April 20, 2017, defendants NutriMost LLC, NutriMost Doctors, LLC, and Raymond Wisniewski - the franchisor of NutriMost, entered into a Stipulated Final Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction with the Federal Trade Commission in the United States District Court Western Pennsylvania.  The Stipulated Judgment settles allegations that the business participated in deceptive and unfair acts or practices and false advertisements in violation of Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 45 and 52, in connection with the advertising, marketing, distribution, and sale of weight loss and health-related systems and products. NutriMost LLC, NutriMost Doctors, LLC, and Raymond Wisniewski are the franchisor/licensing entities for the NutriMost weight-loss program used by wellness centers and chiropractors in the US which includes River of Life Chiropratic, also doing business as Nutrimost of Erie, LLC.

Under terms of the Stipulation the business agreed that Defendants, Defendants' officers, agents, employees, Licensees, Franchisees, and all other Persons in active concert or participation with any of them are hereby permanently restrained and enjoined from any representation that such product: Enables users to lose weight, including 20-40 pounds; ls safe for users; Enables the user to achieve permanent weight loss; Enables the user to burn a specific number of calories, including 2,000-7,000 calories per day; Targets abnormal fat; Allows the user to achieve targeted weight loss; Effectively treats, mitigates, or cures a disease, including diabetes or psoriasis; unless the representation is non-misleading and, at the time of making such representation, defendants possess and rely upon competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate that the representation is true.

They are permanently restrained and enjoined from misrepresenting that their weight-loss program does not require users to follow a restrictive diet, including prohibiting the consumption of certain foods at certain times or on the same day; Failing to disclose the daily calorie intake that includes a Very Low Calorie Diet (VLCD); Misrepresenting in any manner that a person providing an endorsement is describing their opinions, findings, beliefs, or experience with the their weight-loss program and failing to disclose a material connection, if one exists, between a user or a person providing an endorsement.

Also, they are permanently restrained and enjoined from purporting to bind, including through any notice, warning, threat to enforce, or attempt to enforce, any purchaser the weight-loss program - regardless of when purchased - to any contractual provision that purports to prohibit purchasers from speaking or publishing truthful or non-defamatory negative comments or reviews; and requiring any purchaser of the weight-loss program to sign any agreement, including in order to obtain a full or partial refund, that purports to prohibit such purchaser from speaking or publishing truthful or non-defamatory negative comments or reviews.

Finally, the Stipulated Final Judgment and Order imposes a $32 million judgment against the defendants -  NutriMost LLC, NutriMost Doctors, LLC, and Raymond Wisniewski, which will be suspended based on defendants’ financial condition after they pay $2 million for consumer refunds.

The agreed to Stipulation was for settlement purposes only and should not be considered as an admission of guilt or finding of violation of the law. For more details go to the FTC's Stipulated Final Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/cases/170420_nutrmost_final_permanent_injunction_and_order_signed_redacted_4-21-17.pdf
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