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Lawyers Fatten Up on Dr. Phil Diet
by Gina Serpe
Oct 5, 2005, 12:35 PM PT
The man known for telling it like it is apparently didn't--at least according to a new lawsuit.
Three dieters who claim that Dr. Phil McGraw's discontinued Shape Up! diet plan was useless are suing the TV shrink for fraud and looking to expand their claim into a national class-action lawsuit.
The trio appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday morning to file the suit, alleging that Dr. Phil made false and misleading claims about the diet supplements' weight-loss prowess.
They are requesting full refunds and additional damages as well as seeking to open up the lawsuit to thousands of potential dieters.
Lawyers for both McGraw and CSA Nutraceuticals, the company behind the plan, have denied the false-advertising claims but refused to comment further.
A ruling on the class-action status is not expected until next year.
The controversial Shape Up! plan required followers to take 22 vitamins and supplements a day--based on whether a person had a "pear" or "apple" body type--at a price of $120 per month. Dieters could also choose from the plan's widely available shakes and bars.
The plaintiffs claim they lost plenty of money, but no weight.
Oprah's protégé first began endorsing the "Shape Up! with Phil McGraw" diet plan in mid-2003, making several high-profile TV appearances and writing a book touting the regime's surefire results.
However, in January 2004, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a statement claiming none of the pills' ingredients had been shown to promote weight loss, and soon after CSA Nutraceuticals halted production on the product line due to an ongoing investigation into false-advertising claims by the Federal Trade Commission.
The investigation was dropped as a result.
The court news tops off an otherwise banner year for the Texas advice dispenser. His ratings-grabbing Dr. Phil show was recently renewed for another five years, ensuring viewers a daily dose of tough love through 2014.
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/P...7,17514,00.html
by Gina Serpe
Oct 5, 2005, 12:35 PM PT
The man known for telling it like it is apparently didn't--at least according to a new lawsuit.
Three dieters who claim that Dr. Phil McGraw's discontinued Shape Up! diet plan was useless are suing the TV shrink for fraud and looking to expand their claim into a national class-action lawsuit.
The trio appeared in Los Angeles Superior Court Monday morning to file the suit, alleging that Dr. Phil made false and misleading claims about the diet supplements' weight-loss prowess.
They are requesting full refunds and additional damages as well as seeking to open up the lawsuit to thousands of potential dieters.
Lawyers for both McGraw and CSA Nutraceuticals, the company behind the plan, have denied the false-advertising claims but refused to comment further.
A ruling on the class-action status is not expected until next year.
The controversial Shape Up! plan required followers to take 22 vitamins and supplements a day--based on whether a person had a "pear" or "apple" body type--at a price of $120 per month. Dieters could also choose from the plan's widely available shakes and bars.
The plaintiffs claim they lost plenty of money, but no weight.
Oprah's protégé first began endorsing the "Shape Up! with Phil McGraw" diet plan in mid-2003, making several high-profile TV appearances and writing a book touting the regime's surefire results.
However, in January 2004, the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a statement claiming none of the pills' ingredients had been shown to promote weight loss, and soon after CSA Nutraceuticals halted production on the product line due to an ongoing investigation into false-advertising claims by the Federal Trade Commission.
The investigation was dropped as a result.
The court news tops off an otherwise banner year for the Texas advice dispenser. His ratings-grabbing Dr. Phil show was recently renewed for another five years, ensuring viewers a daily dose of tough love through 2014.
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/P...7,17514,00.html
I was reading that book. No wonder I haven't lost any this week.
... this world is full of victims!
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