“Grey Defence” Expectations; FTC Sues Cheyenne Purveyor Of Anti-Gray Hair Products
For a little more than $2 a day, you can swallow a capsule of "Grey Defence" to prevent or reverse graying hair.
Or you can save your money.
The Federal Trade Commission recently filed an injunction in federal court in Wyoming against the Cheyenne-based COORGA Nutraceuticals Corp. and its executive vice president Garfield Coore who claim their "Grey Defence" dietary supplements can thwart one of the obvious signs of aging.
COORGA's claims are false or misleading, and violate the Federal Trade Commission Act, according to the FTC.
Coore did not return a call seeking comment.
COORGA's products include "Grey Defence," "Grey Defence Xtreme," "Grey Defence Xtreme 2.0," and "Grey Defence GENEJOLT! Professional Strength." A 30-capsule bottle sells for $69.99.
Coore and COORGA make big claims for their products in an advertisement: "Grey Defence is a natural super premium dietary supplement with advance dose delivery technologies that releases the active ingredients in the upper site of the small intestines, where it's effectively absorbed, thereby augmenting the body's natural defences against greying."
Specifically, it "'contains a blend of vitamins and minerals, as well as catalase, an enzyme used by cells to rapidly catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into less-reactive gaseous oxygen and water molecules,'" according to the product label cited by the FTC.
And how does COORGA prove the effects of "Grey Defence"?
COORGA's website cites the "summarized findings and statistical analysis" of a study it did by selecting 100 customers who used it for five months. Twenty of those 100 customers responded. Thirteen of those indicated they saw grey hair reversal.
Or as its website exclaimed: "Observational Study Results: 65% Reported Reversing Grey Hair!"
That math don't scan.
"We when we did our investigation we found there wasn't adequate substantiation," said Elizabeth Nach, an attorney with the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection in Washington, D.C. "In cases like these, we would like to see competent and reliable scientific evidence to substantiate the claims."
The same day the FTC sued COORGA, the Commission announced it issued orders about two companies with products that made similar unsubstantiated claims about gray hair reversal. One order was a suspended $1.8 million judgment against a company in South Carolina, and another was a suspended $2.0 million judgment against a company in New Jersey.
Those companies cooperated with the FTC.
COORGA didn't.
The FTC now awaits COORGA's response, Nach said.
If COORGA doesn't respond, the FTC could pursue a default judgment and those court filings may show how much the company made selling its products, she said. The lawsuit wants the court to order COORGA to stop doing business, refund customers, give up any illegal financial gains, and prove its products work.
"We believe in truth in advertising and we want to make sure that consumers aren't deceived and that they can rely on the claims that advertisers and companies make about their products," Nach said.
"Certainly it's every consumer's choice to determine what he or she decides to purchase, but it's not fair when companies might be misrepresenting what their products can do, especially when you're in the health arena, for instance, and it might be difficult for the average consumer can verify that a claim is true."