There’s no doubt that New U Life and its CEO have garnered the attention of the FDA and FTC. The FDA
There’s no doubt that New U Life and its CEO have garnered the attention of the FDA and FTC. The FDA has already tested Somaderm and found it does not contain HGH or any drug for that matter. And just last week the FTC sent a closing letter to Natural Life Foods Corp, d/b/a Strike First Nutrition, which just happens to be owned by New U Life CEO Alexy Goldstein. According to the FTC, Strike First Nutrition was deceptively marketing a product called Testall Gel. Specifically, the FTC stated:
Among other claims, Testall Gel was marketed to strengthen bone density, prevent or reduce the risk of osteoporosis, balance blood sugar levels, reduce blood pressure, and prevent depression. It was also promoted as the only FDA-registered transdermal testosterone product available without a prescription.
Hmm. Where have we heard claims like that before? The FTC decided to close its investigation based in part on “the amount of sales [of Testall Gel] and the fact that your client has removed Testall Gel from the market.” The FTC ended its letter by stating, “The Commission reserves the right to take such further action as the public interest may require.”
New U Life has also been the focus of an Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program (ERSP) investigation. (ERSP is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation and is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.) The investigation, prompted by an anonymous challenger, focused on the marketing of Somaderm Gel. In January 2019, ERSP determined that “the marketer (New U Life) did not adequately support claims that Somaderm Gel will confer health benefits.” The decision went on to explain that:
the marketer failed to submit any competent and reliable evidence to demonstrate that the Somaderm Gel formula and/or transdermal administration would provide the purported health benefits of HGH. Based upon the information provided, ERSP recommended that the marketer discontinue all performance and establishment claims. ERSP also noted that the marketer did not submit any information regarding the characterization of its product and ingredients as “homeopathic” in the advertising at issue. ERSP further advised the marketer that claims regarding whether the product or its ingredients are homeopathic should comply with applicable FDA guidelines.
And that wasn’t the end of the ERSP’s hammering of New U Life’s misleading marketing of Somaderm. It went on to state:
As to the claims that Somaderm Gel is FDA registered, ERSP determined that the marketer could make limited claims that were truthful and accurate. Specifically, the marketer could state that the marketer’s facilities are FDA registered and that Somaderm Gel has been assigned a National Drug Code (NDC) number. … [T]he marketer should not include any claims that state or imply that the Somaderm Gel product is FDA approved.
It appears that New U Life and its distributors have largely ignored the ERSP’s recommendations. The Direct Selling Self-Regulatory Council (DSSRC) alluded to New U Life’s broken promises to the ERSP in its own inquiry into the company’s health and income claims posted to its website in January 2020. The DSSRC identified “significant systemic compliance issues regarding [New U Life’s] ability to appropriately monitor the claims” at issue, but stopped short of referring the matter to the FTC, for now. It did not address the legal issues surrounding the sale of HGH or if Somaderm even contains human growth hormone.
If all that weren’t enough, there’s also the legal battle between George Najjar and New U Life, Goldstein and Goldstein doing business as Strike First Nutrition. Najjar brought a 13-count complaint in California state court in 2018 seeking, among other things, to be reinstated as the founder and CEO of New U Life. While the litigation rages on, the court issued the following preliminary injunction order against Goldstein, Strike First Nutrition and New U Life:
Alex Goldstein individually and doing business as Strike First Nutrition and New U Life, Inc., their officers, agents, servants, representatives, employees and all persons acting under, or in concert with them, are enjoined and restrained from the following acts, during the pendency of this lawsuit: (1) from selling, transferring, encumbering, conveying or otherwise disposing of any assets of New U Life; (2) from dissolving New U Life; and (3) from using any other entity, such as Strike First Nutrition, to sell New U Life’s HGH Gel and testosterone related products. (4) Defendants shall keep and maintain complete and accurate books and records of account and preserve all documents of New U Life transactions, including but not limited to, all emails to and from New U Life (including Plaintiff’s emails), sales, receipts, expenditures, etc.