Update on Herbalife

[wilcopops]

Some members might be interested in theisupdate on the highly dubious company "herbalife" via Consumer Health Digest.

Herbalife hit by class-action suit

A class-action lawsuit has been filed by Abdul Awad, an Herbalife shareholder who claims to have bought the company's stock at inflated prices because of false or misleading statements made by the company. Awad is seeking to represent all investors who bought the stock between May 4, 2010 and April 11, 2014. His complaint states:

• The company's operations were based on a pyramid scheme whereby its distributors generate revenue by recruiting other distributors rather than selling its diet and nutritional products to the general public.
• Herbalife engaged in deceptive trade practices where it unduly pressured its members to purchase more products to resell as one of its "distributors."
• As a result of the above, the company's financial statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.
• In 2013, The New York Times reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) opened an investigation into the company. Recently the Financial Times reported that the FBI has has opened a criminal probe of Herbalife. [Registration is required to access the article.]
• U.S. Senator Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts has sent a letter to Herbalife's chief executive, Michael O. Johnson, asking (a) How much profit (net earnings after expenses) can the average distributor expect to make from retailing to non-distributors (i.e., people who are not directly involved in Herbalife themselves)?; and ( What's the correct number of sales outside the network as a percentage of total sales for each of the last five years measured by product, quantity and dollars. Markey also urged both the FTC and SEC to examine whether Herbalife was a legitimate multilevel marketing company. Markey also reported that one family in Norton, MA had lost $130,000 from its investments in the company's products, and another woman said she was pressured to recruit family members and spend more money to buy more Herbalife products so she could qualify as a "supervisor" in the Herbalife system.
• News of the investigations triggered sharp declines in the price of Herbalife common stock, causing Awad and many other investors to suffer significant losses.

[wilcopops]

I'm told that the ads are not directly from Thaivisa they are "pop ups" presumably generated by anyone who clicks on the Heath forum. As it seems that TV can do nothing about this I suggest that members be very wary of this company.

Edited April 25, 2014 by wilcopops

[haveaniceday]

Interesting CEO and role model for a health company.

Mr. Hughes, 44, who promoted natural healing methods using Herbalife's health care and weight-loss products, was being treated by a psychiatrist for his drinking problem and smoked six to eight cigars a day, according to the coroner's report. He founded the company 20 years ago.

On June 16, the coroner found that Mr. Hughes had died May 21 of an overdose of alcohol and a toxic level of doxepin, an antidepressant. His blood alcohol level was 0.21 percent.

More at the NY Times story here......

[h90]

Interesting CEO and role model for a health company.

Mr. Hughes, 44, who promoted natural healing methods using Herbalife's health care and weight-loss products, was being treated by a psychiatrist for his drinking problem and smoked six to eight cigars a day, according to the coroner's report. He founded the company 20 years ago.

On June 16, the coroner found that Mr. Hughes had died May 21 of an overdose of alcohol and a toxic level of doxepin, an antidepressant. His blood alcohol level was 0.21 percent.

More at the NY Times story here......

44 isn't very old....

[wilcopops]

More on Herbalife via Consumer Health Digest.......

Herbalife distributors caught making improper medical claims

An undercover ABC News investigation has found many examples of distributors boasting to potential customers that the company's products helped treat serious ailments. [Ross B and others. Caught on video: Can Herbalife cure a brain tumor? ABC Nightline, April 22, 2014] In one case, a distributor even told an ABC reporter that a woman with a brain tumor became symptom-free after starting on Herbalife products. One of Herbalife's major growth areas is in "nutrition clubs"—neighborhood storefront locations where those interested in losing weight come to consume shakes and get coaching about their nutrition. When a ABC News reporter visited a nutrition club in Staten Island, he was given a document resembling medical intake form to fill out. Then he was escorted to what looked like a medical exam room, where he underwent a test that he was told showed his cholesterol was high. The distributor recommended Herbalife supplements to "help you clean your cholesterol." During an interview, Herbalife's president stated that the company uses "secret shoppers" to monitor distributor compliance and that he didn't think it was common for medical claims to be made. However, the company later disclosed that during 2013, it had disciplined nearly 600 distributors, 12 of whom were expelled, for violating its "no medical claims" policy.

[wilcopops]

New Herbalife investigation results available

Pershing Square Capital Management will present its investigation of Herbalife Ltd.'s "nutrition clubs"at the AXA Equitable Center, 787 Seventh Ave., New York, on Tuesday, July 22, at 9:15 AM EDT to be followed by a question-and-answer session. The presentation will also be simultaneously webcast atwww.herbalifepyramidscheme.com and www.factsaboutherbalife.com. Herbalife says that these "clubs" are simply social gatherings that bring people together to focus on good nutrition and exercise. But Herbalife arch-critic Bill Ackman believes that they are a core driver of Herbalife's pyramid scheme. Herbalife shares fell 10% after the presentation was announced.