Judge Tells Company to Pay Up in Akavar 20/50 Class Action Settlement

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Consumers who purchased the disputed weight-loss supplement Akävar 20/50 may finally be able to cash in on a class action lawsuit settlement that was reached last September after the judge overseeing the case refused to let the supplement maker back out of the settlement agreement.

U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart had harsh words for Basic Research and its attorney last month, who he said appeared to be obstructing the settlement the company had agreed to in a class action lawsuit accusing it of defrauding consumers with false advertisements for Akävar 20/50.

Consumers sued Basic Research in 2007 alleging the company falsely and deceptively marketed Akävar 20/50 as a proven weight loss product that allows users to “Eat all you want and still lose weight.” Plaintiffs claimed there is no clinical or scientific support for these claims.

In May 2011, Judge Stewart certified a class of all consumers who purchased Akävar 20/50 after seeing or hearing the “Eat all you want” marketing slogan.

The two sides reached a class action settlement agreement in September 2012 that requires Basic Research to refund eligible consumers and pay $3.5 million in court costs and attorney fees. The terms of the deal were signed by the president and CEO of the company as well as its lead attorney, Christopher Sullivan. According to court documents, however, the two stopped negotiations to tie up final details of the settlement and ceased talks with plaintiff attorneys in December.

Lead attorney, Scott Shepherd, who represents the plaintiffs and consumer class, asked the judge in March to enforce the Akävar 20/50 settlement.

Sullivan argued that the settlement was only a tentative agreement and that important details of the accord had not been ironed out. Sullivan told the court that ordering enforcement of the settlement would be unconstitutional and would be appealed.

Judge Stewart, however, said the real question before the court was “whether the defendants had a change of heart after an enforceable agreement had been reached.”

Stewart ruled that since all key terms of the settlement had been agreed to by both sides and signed by the company’s president/CEO, that Basic Research was required to honor the agreement.

The company’s attorneys said they would review Stewart’s ruling and explore all legal options.

The case is Miller v. Basic Research LLC, et al., Case No. 7-cv-871, U.S. District Court, District of Utah.

UPDATE: Basic Research appealed Judge Stewart’s ruling to enforce the Akavar class action settlement, but a federal appeals court dismissed the appeal on May 6, 2014.