The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced in a Thursday news release that it filed a complaint against chiropractor Eric Anthony Nepute and his company, Quickwork LLC, over allegations that the defendants violated the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act and the FTC Act through purported deceptive marketing of vitamin products as effective COVID-19 treatments.
According to the complaint, the defendants have been marketing Wellness Warrior Vita D and Wellness Warrior Zinc, among other products, as effective in treating or preventing COVID-19, even “claim(ing) that their products are more effective than the available COVID-19 vaccines.”
“Defendants lack valid factual or scientific bases for these claims, which are frequently accompanied by equally unsupported assertions regarding the applicable science,” the FTC alleged. “In short, Defendants are selling their products by disseminating misinformation, exploiting fears in the midst of a pandemic, and posing a significant risk to public health and safety.”
The COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, passed in 2020, made it illegal under the FTC Act “to engage in deceptive marketing related to the treatment, cure, prevention, mitigation, or diagnosis of COVID-19, or any government benefit related to COVID-19,” the release said, noting that the complaint marks the first action brought under the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act. The FTC sent a letter to Nepute in May 2020 advising him to review the efficacy claims he was making about his products, but, according to the complaint, this did not stop him.
“The defendants’ claims that their products can stand in for approved COVID-19 vaccines are particularly troubling: we need to be doing everything we can to stop bogus health claims that endanger consumers,” acting FTC Chair Rebecca Kelly Slaughter said. “With this case, the Commission has quickly put to use its new authority to stop false marketing claims related to the pandemic.”
The FTC is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions to enjoin the defendants from continuing their alleged conduct and monetary penalties, among other relief.
