So here's the long and short of it: Biotab Nutraceuticals in 2006 settled for $300,000 a consumer lawsuit brought by the
Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA), which alleged the maker of ExtenZe falsely claimed
without any substantiation that the boner pills would enhance a man's penis size.
Biotab is nothing if not ballsy.
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The Monrovia-based company, which defied the terms of the original settlement, today agreed to shell out another $1.75 million in what prosecutors claim is the largest award in Orange County history obtained for violating the
injunctive terms of a previous OCDA consumer protection settlement.
The lawsuit against the dietary supplement manufacturer and distributor, which got popped for multiple violations of consumer protection laws, only pertains to Biotab products marketed and sold throughout the State of California.
Biotab was found to have “engaged in false and misleading advertising in the the marketing and sale of certain dietary supplement products, including ExtenZe, which they falsely claimed without any substantiation would enhance a man's penis size,” reads an OCDA statement on the latest settlement.
These were “the same untrue claims regarding penile enlargement” that were made by the principals of Biotab and the former manufacturer and distributor of ExtenZe, Dish Direct, Inc., under the 2006 settlement, says the OCDA, which notes that deal included injunctive terms prohibiting future false advertising and unsubstantiated claims.
“The current case is both a violation of consumer protection laws and the previous injunction,” reads the OCDA statement.
“The current lawsuit also states that Biotab violated Proposition 65, which requires products that expose consumers to over one-half microgram of lead per day to be marked with a warning label.” An OCDA investigation discovered multiple lot numbers of the ExtenZe product contained over the legal limit of micrograms of lead without proper warning labels.
Because that violates California law, Biotab is required under the terms of the latest settlement to follow a strict testing protocol for all of its products.
Biotab was also found to have failed to reimburse customers in a timely fashion for returned products, according to the OCDA, which found that in some cases the company never sent refunds but did send and charge customers for unordered products.
The company, which has not admitted fault or liability, has agreed to injunctive terms to prevent any future unfair business practices related to the above offenses, reads the OCDA statement, which adds that in addition to the $1.75 million in civil penalties, Biotab must pay restitution to consumers who have not already received refunds and who filed documented complaints with the company, the Better Business Bureau or the California Attorney General between July 1, 2006, and July 1, 2011.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.