Dietary Supplement Marketers Settle With Santa Cruz County Over Deceptive Marketing

The marketers of a dietary supplement have agreed to pay a $1.4 million settlement stemming from civil complaints filed by the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office and the Federal Trade Commission, the district attorney’s office announced Thursday.

Defendants Brain Research Labs, LLC and George Reynolds will also be barred from making similar deceptive claims in the future as a result of the agreement, according to prosecutors. The defendants duped consumers by claiming the dietary supplement Procera AVH was clinically proven to significantly improve memory, mood and other cognitive functions, prosecutors said.

“The defendants made claims that Procera AVH would reverse age-related mental decline and memory loss without science to back them up,” Assistant District Attorney Kelly Walker said.

Kelly advised consumers “be extremely wary of ads promising quick and easy fixes.”

The defendants advertised the product using infomercials, direct mail flyers, newspapers and the internet, prosecutors said. Procera AVH typically cost $79 per bottle, or $119 for three bottles for customers who signed up the continuity purchase plan, which included automatic refills, according to prosecutors.

Anyone who has believes they have been a victim of false advertising should contact the Santa Cruz County District Attorney’s Office Consumer Protection Unit at (831) 454-2050.

--Bay City News