Dr. Phil Bellies Up to Diet Settlement
The Shape Up! diet plan may not have resulted in the mass weight loss it claimed it would, but at least one man on the program managed to fit into a new suit.
A class action one.
Dr. Phil McGraw has agreed to a $10.8 million settlement in a class action lawsuit brought against the TV doc-endorsed diet products by three customers claiming that adhering to the rigorous regimen of supplements failed to result in shed pounds.
A share of the settlement from the lawsuit, first filed by a dieting trio in Los Angeles County Superior Court last October, will be available to any of the thousands of dissatisfied customers who claimed the only loss they encountered while on the program was to their pocketbooks.
According to Henry H. Rossbacher, the attorney for the failed dieters, a fund will be established for eligible plaintiffs nationwide who can prove they purchased Shape Up! supplements prior to July 1.
Zaftig pill poppers can opt to either take a onetime cash settlement of a whopping $12.50 or receive a bottle of Nutrilite vitamins as replacements for the Shape Up! products.
The settlement will be paid for entirely by Shape Up!'s parent company's insurance with no out-of-pocket expenses for Oprah's protégé
McGraw, who began endorsing, though clearly not taking, the products in mid-2003, admitted no wrongdoing in settling the suit and has previously denied allegations that he misrepresented the Shape Up! products or made false statements about their weight loss prowess in his yearlong tenure as their spokesperson.
The 56-year-old certainly did his share of hawking, though.
The daytime psychiatrist promoted the Shape Up! plan with a series of advice books emphasizing the surefire results of the regimen, which required followers to take 22 vitamins and supplements a day at a price of $120 per month.
He was prominently featured in the ad campaign for various Shape Up! products, including pills, shakes, bars and multivitamins, and even appeared in what may constitute the mother of all infomercials, a prime-time special on obesity with Katie Couric.
Shape Up!'s parent, CSA Nutraceuticals, ceased production on the diet pills in early 2004, shortly after the Center for Science in the Public Interest released a statement claiming none of the supplements' ingredients had been shown to promote weight loss.
The Federal Trade Commission quickly ordered an investigation into false-advertising claims, but the the case was dropped once CSA halted production.
On the bright side, would-be weight losers will be able to glom on to McGraw's tough-love tips for years to come--syndicator King World has renewed the ratings-grabbing Dr. Phil show through 2014.
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