Blackstone Labs Criminal Trial Update Co-Defendant Pleads Guilty

Tauler Smith LLP Defeats Three Successive Motions for Summary Adjudication in Protein Bar Dispute

LOS ANGELES, November 10, 2019 ‑ Tauler Smith LLP has successfully defeated three motions for summary adjudication in complex multi-party litigation regarding the manufacture of protein bars. The triad of motions were brought by cross-defendants Defense Nutrition, LLC, Sapphire Bakery Co., and Bruce Olsen, Sapphire’s former CEO, against law firm client and cross-complainant Eagle Mist Corporation.

The litigation has spanned over three years and includes three cross-complaints between seven parties, all relating to business disputes surrounding the manufacture of thirteen types of nutritional protein bars. In one cross-complaint, Eagle Mist Corporation, which specializes in formulation of foods, has alleged that various entities conspired to commit fraud and breach a series of contracts culminating in the conversion of Eagle Mist Corporation’s assets.

In two separate hearings on October 1 and November 8, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Linfield denied cross-defendants’ Motion for Summary Adjudication in their entirety, allowing Eagle Mist’s claims of breach of contract, conversion, concealment, and fraudulent misrepresentation proceed to trial.

The Court rejected the arguments brought by Cross-Defendants, including that lost profits were unavailable to Eagle Mist, reasoning that the availability of lost profits “is a quintessential jury question.”

The case is set for a two-week jury trial in January, 2020. “We are very pleased that the Court has agreed that our clients’ claims should proceed to trial,” lead counsel Robert Tauler said.

$40 Million in Contempt Sanctions for False Advertising of Weight Loss Supplements in Violation of Injunction Affirmed

The 11th Circuit upheld a district court’s granting of $40 million in contempt sanctions against Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals and other co-defendants for making unsubstantiated marketing statements on four weight loss supplements in violation of an injunction obtained by the Federal Trade Commission. The $40 million figure represents the amount of gross revenue from the four products.

“The ink had hardly dried on filings from the first injunction case when the defendants started a new marketing campaign in 2009. This time, they touted the fat- and weight-loss benefits of four products—a reformulated version of Lipodrene, Fastin, Benzedrine, and Stimerex-ES. For example, advertisements for Lipodrene warned users not to consume the product unless ‘fat loss and weight loss are your intended result’; advertisements for Fastin boasted that it was an ‘Extreme Fat Burner’; those for Benzedrine claimed that it would ‘annihilate . . . fat’; and advertisements for Stimerex-ES told users that this was a product ‘for those who want their fat-burner to light them up all day as their pounds melt away.'”

The full opinion is available here.

WXYZ ABC Channel 7

Tauler Smith LLP files lawsuit in Michigan against convenience stores

The suit filed in Detroit federal court accuses the companies that own the gas stations and covenience stores of selling pills that are billed as sexual enhancement supplements, which lab tests have found actually contain drugs such as sildenafil, desmethyl carbodenafil, dapoxetine and tadalafil.

Check out the coverage by various local TV stations and newspapers in Michigan:

WJBK (Fox) Detroit: http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/lawsuit-detroit-gas-stations-selling-male-enhancement-pills-with-hidden-active-ingredients

WXYZ (ABC) Detroit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD5H_gL5mws

WDIV (NBC) Detroit: https://www.clickondetroit.com/news/metro-detroit-gas-stations-accused-of-selling-viagra-to-unsuspecting-customers

WWJ News Radio, Detroit: https://wwjnewsradio.radio.com/articles/detroit-gas-stations-named-federal-lawsuit-selling-viagra-without-prescription

Detroit Free Press, Detroit: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2018/08/13/do-you-need-prescription-viagra/974946002/

Metro Times, Detroit: https://www.metrotimes.com/news-hits/archives/2018/08/13/sunoco-may-be-selling-viagra-disguised-as-enhancement-pills

Courthouse News: https://www.courthousenews.com/gas-stations-accused-of-selling-illegal-male-enhancement-drugs/

Texas gas stations secretly selling Viagra are exposed by False Advertising Law Firm Tauler Smith LLP

The suit filed in Houston federal court accuses the companies that own the gas stations of selling pills that are billed as sexual enhancement supplements, which lab tests have found actually contain drugs such as sildenafil, desmethyl carbodenafil, dapoxetine and tadalafil.

Check out the coverage by various local TV stations in Texas:

KTRK/CNN Tyler, Texas: https://www.easttexasmatters.com/news/top-stories/gas-stations-selling-illegal-viagra/1351659361

KGNS (NBC) Laredo, Texas: http://www.kgns.tv/content/news/Texas-lawyer-sues-gas-stations-over-490283331.html

KXAN (NBC) Austin, Texas: https://www.kxan.com/news/texas/lawsuit-houston-convenience-stores-sell-viagra-laced-supplements/1351083377

Channel 2 (NBC) Houston, Texas: https://www.click2houston.com/video/15-convenience-stores-accused-of-selling-pills-with-drug-found-in-viagra

ABC 13 Houston, Texas: https://abc13.com/health/viagra-laced-pills-allegedly-being-sold-at-houston-gas-stations/3895662/