Hydroxycut Lawsuit Seeks Class Action Status in California

A lawsuit over Hydroxycut weight loss supplements was filed last week in California, seeking class action status on behalf of individuals who consumed any of the recalled Hydroxycut products.

The Hydroxycut lawsuit was filed in federal court in Los Angeles, alleging that the makers of the dietary supplement made fraudulent, false and misleading statements, violated deceptive trade practice laws and received unjust enrichment off th sale of a product for which they made unsubstantiated claims of safety an effectiveness.

Iovate Health Sciences issued a Hydroxycut recall on May 1, after the FDA urgd consumers to immediately stop using the at least 14 different versions of the product due to a risk of liver damage and hepatoxicity that resulted in at least one death. According to the FDA, there have been 23 reports of Hydroxycut problems involving liver damage, including several individuals who required a liver transplant.

Hydroxycut side effects have also been associated with reports of seizures, heart problems and a rare form of muscle damage known as rhabdomyolysis.

The new lawsuit is at least the second Hydroxycut class action filed in the United States, joining one filed in Tennessee in May. A class action Hydroxycut lawsuit has also been filed in Canada, alleging that Iovate failed to provide proper warnings and misled consumers about the safety of the weight-loss aid.

Hydroxycut accounted for 90% of weight-loss supplement sales before the recall, and Iovate reported selling more than 9 million units in 2008. Hydroxycut was not a drug approved or regulated by FDA because it was a dietary supplement. However the agency is allowed to step in even on unregulated drugs when serious health risks have been identified.