Nutrition 21 Sues InterHealth Over Ad Claims 36696

Nutrition 21 Sues InterHealth Over Ad Claims

PURCHASE, N.Y.--Nutrition 21 announced April 28 it filed suitagainst Benicia, Calif.-based InterHealth Nutraceuticals for damages from falseand misleading advertising. As a result, Nutrition 21 is asking the court toorder InterHealth to run or pay for corrective advertising and to pay trebledamages to Nutrition 21. The complaint was filed April 24 in U.S. District Courtin the Southern District of New York.

The basis of the complaint is safety and bioavailability claims made inInterHealth advertisements about its ChromeMate niacin-bound chromium comparedto chromium picolinate. Nutrition 21 supplies Chromax chromium picolinate."We believe that InterHealth is misrepresenting the studies that it isrelying on to support its product safety and bioavailability claims," saidGail Montgomery, chief executive officer (CEO) of Nutrition 21 (www.nutrition21.com).

According to a Nutrition 21 spokeswoman, the company has only starteddiscovery on how extensive the advertising has been; the action permits bothcompanies to subpoena advertising and other documents. She added theadvertisements have primarily run in trade magazines targeting the company'scustomer base of manufacturers.

InterHealth (www.interhealthusa.com)released a statement noting it has turned the matter over to its outside legalcounsel. "Nutrition 21 has been our competitor for 15 years, and we aredisappointed they feel it is necessary to take this action," said WilliamSeroy, InterHealth's president and CEO. "We are proud of our researchreputation and stand firmly by claims made about each and every one of ourproducts."