Another Day, Another Success Story...

Yesterday, our very own Bryan Fields secured a felony conviction in the government’s prosecution of Sarah Alberg. Why is this news worthy? Because it is seemingly out of a movie plot. The defendant was operating a home-business selling an oral product called TrimContour for weight loss.  The not-so-secret ingredient? Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone produced by the human placenta. 

The FDA has approved hCG drugs to treat female infertility and for certain kinds of male hormone treatment, but it is not a weight loss drug and there is no scientific evidence that taking hCG orally does anything at all.  Rather, peddlers of these types of drugs often pair the hCG with instructions for a dangerously restrictive 500 calorie-a-day diet that can cause many health problems, which is precisely what Alberg did.  Acting on a tip from an aggrieved ex-husband, agents with the FDA-OCI made undercover purchases and then got a warrant to search the defendant’s home.  There, they found evidence that the defendant was marketing the drugs for weight loss --- a “misbranding” --- and that she was falsely telling her clients that it was FDA-approved drug and manufactured safely.  It was not.  She smuggled the hCG in from India and repackaged it in her garage, which was fouled with rodent droppings (an “adulteration”).  Judge Domnico sentenced the defendant to three years of probation and 40 hours of community service.

This felony conviction made it so the defendent would not only face jail time, but never be allowed to practice in the field again.