ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE ENTERS INTO MULTI-STATE SETTLEMENT WITH ALTERNATIVE HEALTH COMPANY CHARGED WITH ADVERTISING FALSE MEDICAL RECALL NOTICE

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that his Office, along with the offices of 17 other Attorneys General, entered into a settlement with two Nevada companies and their owner for advertising false and misleading claims regarding their sale of a progesterone cream product. The companies, Gateway Distributors, Ltd. and The Right Solution Gateway, 3220 Pepper Lane, Las Vegas, NV 89120, and their owner, Richard Bailey, use the name “The Right Solution” to market alternative health products to consumers through the Internet and mail.

Led by Attorney General Curran, this multi-state action alleged that The Right Solution mailed an advertisement to Maryland residents labeled as a “Medical Recall Notice.” The Notice falsely stated that prescription estrogen and progesterone products have been the subject of medical recalls. The Right Solution’s Notice stated that these products are hazardous to consumers’ health and further claimed that these products could cause breast cancer, cervical cancer and endometrial cancer. The Notice urged and advised consumers to use The Right Solution’s product, “YMotion Yam Cream,” instead. No prescription drug estrogen or progesterone products have been the subject of a medical recall.

The Attorneys General also alleged that The Right Solution’s YMotion Yam Cream, as marketed, is a drug that has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and therefore, cannot be legally sold in the United States. The Attorneys General alleged that The Right Solution made false and misleading claims that their product was clinically proven to be safe and effective when, in fact, the product had not been clinically tested or proven to be effective.

In the settlement, the companies and their owner agreed to stop selling their YMotion Progesterone cream or any other drug products as treatments for human illnesses or diseases, unless they are first approved by the FDA. In addition, the companies and their owner agreed to not make any health claims in their advertisements unless they possessed clinical research proving their claims to be true. The Right Solution agreed to return all of the payments it received from consumers who file complaints about the YMotion Yam Cream products they purchased by December 11, 2006. The Right Solution agreed to pay a $100,000 penalty to the Attorneys General as well.

“This company and its owner were trying to scare consumers into abandoning the use of FDA approved drugs prescribed by a health practitioner,” Attorney General Curran said. “Companies that sell health products must be required to advertise their products honestly so that consumers can make informed decisions regarding their health.”

The other states that participated in the settlement are: Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Consumers who wish to file claims for restitution may either write to the Health Education and Advocacy Unit of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, Attn: The Right Solution Claims, 200 St. Paul Place, 16th Floor, Baltimore, Maryland 21202 or they may file a claim via the Internet on the Attorney General’s website, http://www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer/HEAU.htm. All complaints must be received no later than December 11, 2006.