FTC settles with infomercial marketers

The Federal Trade Commission has resolved complaints against informercial
marketers Wellquest International Inc. and Tony Hoffman Productions for
unsubstantiated health claims and other violations.

The ads -- for "Dr. Buchfuhrer’s D-Snore" dietary supplement, "Bloussant" breast-enhancing pills and "EnerX" herbal virility booster -- aired on scores of cable
networks, including Discovery Channel, Nick at Nite and The Learning Channel, as well as
on "numerous" broadcast outlets, according to the FTC.

The companies have agreed to pay $3.2 million and to back up any future
claims.

Regarding Wellquest, it was a case of "Mishan" accomplished for the FTC.

That’s because that family had been particularly hard-hit by the complaint,
which named company president Eddie Mishan as a defendant and added as relief
defendants (profited but did not participate) Jeffrey Mishan, Steven Mishan,
Isaac Mishan, Morris Mishan and Al Mishan.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.