The FTC sued Kevin Wright and his HCG companies for falsely promoting weight loss. The products they sell contain, or are said to contain, HCG. But the FTC says,”HCG, or human chorionic gonadotropin, is a hormone produced by the human placenta that, for decades, has been falsely promoted by various marketers for weight loss.”

Investigators claim Wright and his companies HCG Platinum and Right Way Nutrition, LLC, “… promise consumers that HCG Platinum liquid drops will cause rapid and substantial weight loss, and they claim consumers will likely lose as much weight as the endorsers in their advertisements.”

In its complaint, filed in Arizona Federal District Court, the FTC says ads for the products, “..direct consumers to place the HCG concoctions under their tongues before meals and stick to a very low calorie diet of 500 to 800 calories per day.” A thirty-day supply of one of the formulations costs between $60 to $149.  This apparently has been a very good business for Arizona-based Wright and his companies. The FTC says they’ve sold more than $13 million of HCG Platinum since 2010.

The FTC considers the money “ill-gotten gains” and wants a judge to order the defendants to give up the money.

Wright was warned  in November 2011, when the FTC sent letters alerting him and six others that the agency considered  HCG products mislabeled drugs. It reminded them that it’s illegal to, “…make weight-loss claims that are not supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence.”

Warning for Consumers: 

The FTC says there’s also a warning in this for consumer who are lured by the ads and false claims of supplement marketers that promise quick weight loss.