GNC Hit With Another Dangerous Ingredient Class Action Lawsuit

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GNC faces another potential class action lawsuit that alleges the nutrition company knowingly sells dietary supplements that are “spiked” with illegal ingredients.

Lead plaintiff Jeff Johnston of Michigan filed the GNC class action lawsuit after purchasing the fat loss and energy supplement known as Redline Ultra Hardcore. Johnston claims that he spoke with a GNC sales rep as well as reviewed all the information available to him regarding Redline Ultra Hardcore before purchasing the product.

However, the GNC supplement class action lawsuit states, “At no time did GNC or its representatives make known to him that Redline Ultra Hardcore contained ingredients that may not be lawfully used in dietary supplements, specifically Picamilon and BMPEA.”

According to Johnston, Picamilon is a prescription drug in other countries which is known to treat various neurological conditions by crossing the blood brain barrier. In addition, BMPEA is a chemical that is similar to amphetamine which is banned by the World Anti-Doping Organization, the GNC lawsuit states.

The GNC class action lawsuit claims the nutrition company knew that certain products were spiked with those two ingredients and did not disclose that information on supplement labels. Johnston states that had he known Redline Ultra Hardcore contained unsafe and illegal ingredients he would not have purchased the product.

According to the GNC supplement class action lawsuit, the nutrition company knew as early as May 2007 that Picamilon was not a legal ingredient within the United States. Johnston points to evidence that a GNC Senior Project Manager reviewed all the available literature that had been translated from Russian that reviewed Picamilon.

In addition, the GNC lawsuit states that by November 2013 GNC knew that BMPEA was included in at least 105 GNC products without disclosing the ingredient to consumers on product labels.

The General Nutrition Corporation class action lawsuit claims the company is liable for negligent misrepresentation because it concealed from customers that certain supplements contained ingredients that were not FDA approved and potentially dangerous.

This is the second GNC class action lawsuit filed within the last month. In November, plaintiff Chris Lynch of Iowa filed a similar case regarding the potentially illegal ingredients contained in Redline Ultra Hardcore. Lynch is suing GNC for unjust enrichment over claims that he paid a premium price for supplements containing Picamilon and BMPEA. Lynch states that GNC profited by intentionally omitting the dangerous ingredients included in supplements.

If the supplement class action lawsuit is approved, Johnston wants to represent a nationwide and Michigan state Class. The nationwide Class would be open to all U.S. Class Members who purchased GNC products containing Picamilon or BMPEA. Likewise, the Michigan Class would be open to all Class Members residing in the state who purchased GNC products containing Picamilon or BMPEA.

Johnston is represented by Jonathan Shub and Nick Suciu III of Barbat Mansour & Suciu PLLC.

The GNC Dangerous Supplement Class Action Lawsuit is Jeff Johnston v. General Nutrition Corp., Case No. 2:15-cv-01562, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.