Supplement Firm Convicted for Steroids

BOISE, IdahoA federal court has sentenced the Arizona-based Tribravus Enterprises, which also does business as IForce Nutrition in California, to a fine and probation for marketing products as dietary supplements, but which actually were unapproved drugs due to being adulterated with steroids. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced Tribravus to three years probation and a $125,000 fine, (payable in installments, in addition to a $400 special assessment) and ordered future financial disclosures and a monitoring and testing protocol that includes testing of all products distributed by Tribravus /IForce for banned steroids.

According to the plea agreement, FDA found three products distributed by Tribravus / IForce as dietary supplements 17aPheraFLEX, Dymethazine and Methadrolcontained synthetic steroids: DMT or Madol and Superdrol. The charges were filed in Idaho because Tribravus delivered its products to an Idaho retail company for wider distribution.

This is not the companys first run-in with FDA and the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA). Last fall, FDA told the company its Reversitol dietary supplement contained an ingredient, 6-Etioallochol-1,4-Diene-3,17-Dione (aka ATD, an aromatase inhibitor)  that did not meet the definition of a dietary ingredient and was, therefore, in violation of provisions of FDCA. The company responded by issuing a voluntary recall of the product which, by then, had already been discontinued. FDA was also concerned about adverse events associated with the use of aromatase inhibitorsdecreased rate of bone maturation and growth, decreased sperm production, infertility, aggressive behavior, adrenal insufficiency, kidney failure, and liver dysfunctionand ordered Tribravus/iForce to inform consumers of the potential effects.