Settlements Reached in Some Liquid Supplement Cases

DECATUR, Ga.Judges from Georgia and Alabama coordinated efforts to mediate settlements in more than 200 pending lawsuits relating to dietary supplements marketed and distributed by Total Body Essential Nutrition Inc. Reporting for the Fulton County Daily Report, part of Law.com, Andy Peters noted Judge R. David Proctor, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Alabama, requested the assistance of Judge Alvin T. Wong, DeKalb County State Court, in the mediation. Proctor is presiding over multidistrict federal litigation involving allegations that the Total Body Formula liquid supplements caused serious illness, with suits filed in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Kentucky.

Total Body Essential Nutrition is based in Woodstock, Ga.; the products at issue were recalled by the company in 2008 and are no longer for sale. Plaintiffs complained the use of the supplements caused side effects including fingernail and toenail loss, severe joint pain, hair loss and kidney problems. According to court filings, the company reported its contract manufacturers had mistakenly included levels of selenium and chromium that were far above the requested formulation. Those companies, also named as defendants, claimed they produced the premix to specs and did not test the material before sending to Total Body; several cross-claims are now pending among Total Body, Texamerican and Wright Enrichment.

Wong told Peters the cross-jurisdictional cooperation streamlined the discovery process. An electronic document repository created by the federal court consolidated files, and all parties were permitted to participate in depositions of key witnesses. In mid-August, 222 cases settled, comprising cases consolidated in the federal multidistrict litigation process, as well as some state courts. There are still approximately 40 cases remaining in DeKalb County court.