What’s Wrong with This Picture? – NOW’s SAM-e Class Action Suit

From the Archives: May 27, 2020

NOW recently made headlines by providing brand names of CoQ10 and SAM-e manufacturers that were deficient in meeting label claims. Many trade publications reported the story, and iherb.com posted it on its website. Trust Transparency Center (“TTC”) has conducted tests on products containing coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), astaxanthin, curcumin, and lutein, and TTC’s findings are similar to the NOW testing results. As part of our ongoing investigations into Amazon and other online vendors’ vetting practices, TTC independently tested products, contacted companies found to not meet label claims, and informed them of our findings. The responses from the identified companies were typically one of these four:

1. 1. Fix the product problem

1. 1. Ignore repeated communications

1. 1. Discontinue the product

1. 1. Threaten litigation if we made the information public

TTC tested some of the same brands as NOW and found repeat offenders and poor gatekeeping on behalf of the presumed online ‘gatekeepers’. It is also interesting to note that TTC received a litigation threat from some companies NOW also identified, suggesting intimidation was their strategy, not contrition and compliance. In some cases, the products identified by NOW have been discontinued entirely, a positive development. But in other cases, the companies named by NOW have stopped offering the products on Amazon, but are continuing to provide other products on Amazon, found to be failing assays. As can be seen from the published lists below, several companies failed for both CoQ10 and SAM-e. In some cases, Amazon has discontinued offering the products named by NOW, but the brand name products are still on the website. There is a current class action filed late last year in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (Civil Action No.: 1:19-cv-22702-KMW) against several of these companies:

Vitamins Because LLC

CT Health Solutions LLC

We Like Vitamins LLC

GMax Central LLC

ASquared Brands, LLC

How these companies operate (found to be deficient by both TTC and NOW) and how they participate in the online channel (e-tailers and their websites) moving forward bears watching. It has certainly been disappointing to observe a lack of engagement and accountability in the e-tailing community thus far. Responsible actors in our community have spoken of the product promise in dietary supplements, where a product contains efficacious amounts AND сontains what it claims on the bottle.

We call these non-compliant companies ‘outliers’, yet many of these online brands are becoming more prolific players. We at TTC will continue to test and pressure this marketplace. We hope to find willing partners in the e-tailing community to help us ensure a better industry.

Unfortunately, the current environment supports inconsistency, poor gatekeeping, non-existent or erratic barriers to entry, and a marketplace and channel that truly exemplifies the statement ‘caveat emptor – buyer beware’.

We hope this will be a developing story in some frame or fashion. For now, our collective responsibility as an industry is to look at the facts and behaviors of both brands and ‘gatekeepers’ and deliberately and pointedly ask, ‘what is wrong with this picture?’

~Scott