Triax Maker Moves to Settle Litigation for $1.4 Million

LAKESPUR, Calif.--A class action lawsuit against a manufacturer marketing a tiratricol diet aid is on the brink of being settled for at least $1.4 million. The case's defendants--marketer Cape Girardeau, Mo.-based Syntrax Innovations Inc. and manufacturer West Lindon, Utah-based Pharmatech Laboratories Inc.--reported that continuing the litigation would be even more expensive. However, Syntrax still denies all claims and contentions of wrongdoing.

The plaintiffs, led by Jorge Reinoza, alleged that the companies' claims were false and misleading. Specifically, the plaintiffs alleged that the defendants marketed Triax as safe, fast and effective; failed to warn consumers about tiratricol's adverse events; and did not disclose that tiratricol was in fact a thyroid hormone.

The terms of the proposed settlement include a guaranteed minimum settlement value of $1.4 million, based on the $30 value of coupons to be issued for each of the 46,648 bottles of product sold. Those who join the claim and who bought Triax between March 10, 1999, and March 22, 2002, are also eligible for a coupon offering a 30-percent discount up to a total purchase price of $100 on other Syntrax products, which include tiratricol-free diet aids such as Adipokintix and MM4. Syntrax will additionally pay $155,000 for the plaintiffs' lawyers' fees.

This may be the final chapter in a story that began in November 1999, when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a consumer warning against Triax Metabolic Accelerator. At the time, FDA determined this product was not a dietary supplement but an unapproved drug that may cause heart attacks and stroke. In response, Syntrax asserted that the product was safe and threatened to sue FDA.

This government action did not stop the company from selling another product known as Triax II. In mid-2001, a judge ruled that the company had to discontinue using the name Triax II because it implied that it contained tiratricol. The product, which contained coleus forskoli, was renamed XXX.

Patrick Keegan of Krause & Kalfayan, the lead counsel for the plaintiffs in the current settlement, said that the final review of this case will be in June. "When the settlement is finally approved, it will prohibit Syntrax from selling any products with [tiratricol]."

Syntrax had no comment about the pending settlement.