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Weight loss firm ordered to hand over documents
By CHASE SQUIRES, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- A judge on Wednesday set the lawsuit against the makers of a weight loss plan on a quick course toward trial, ordering the Texas company to produce documents a Dade City woman's attorney has demanded. In January, Janet Makinen, 51, of Dade City sued Mark Nutritionals, the maker of the Body Solutions nighttime weight loss program advertised on the radio. She claims the product doesn't work. On Wednesday, her attorney, Kendra Mancusi, told Circuit Judge Maynard Swanson the company is stalling and has refused for six months to turn over documents she is entitled to as she prepares the case. Mancusi said she plans to seek class-action status, representing all Body Solutions clients in Florida, by Oct. 11. Swanson rejected Mark Nutritionals' offer to hand the documents over gradually, as they are prepared, between now and Oct. 31. He ordered the company to produce the material within 21 days. Mancusi is seeking information on what's in the Body Solutions formulas, when they were developed and how they were marketed. Mark Nutritionals attorney Robert Ciotti argued much of the information is secret. He said Mancusi wants everying from production details to sales, advertising -- including scripts provided to radio disc jockeys -- and the way the company handles complaints. "Delay is the strategy the defendants have taken to defend this case," Mancusi said. In the suit, Makinen claims she bought the liquid weight loss product after hearing radio advertisements, but it didn't work. She said she actually gained weight while using the product. Swanson earlier gave both sides until the end of the month to agree on a timetable to move the case forward. If they can't agree, he said, he will produce his own timetable. The company also is being sued in Texas, Michigan and Ohio under similar complaints. On Tuesday, the Federal Trade Commission released a study claiming 55 percent of weight loss ads make claims that are probably false or misleading. "There is no miracle pill that will lead to weight loss," Surgeon General Richard Carmona said Tuesday. "Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight requires a lifelong commitment to healthful eating and adequate physical activity." -- Information from the Associated Press was included in this report.
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From today's Pasco Times Editorial Letters |
