MuscleTech (Iovate) involved in numerous lawsuits - a public relations nightmare

It seems that the boys over at MuscleTech are at it again, involving themselves in a public relations nightmare (even worse when they had to do a product recall on their Nitro-Tech bars!). You may recall that several years ago they attempted to bully EliteFitness.com by threatening them with a lawsuit if their members continued to bash their products and over-the-top advertisements. (Below you’ll find copies of the letter that they sent to EliteFitness.com)

Of course, this is a clear example of a SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation). It is the same type of lawsuit that I’ve been hit with numerous times (I’ve been sued or threatened to be sued almost a dozen times - and never paid a dime in any of those suits). Ultimately, MuscleTech did not go forward against EliteFitness.com - more likely than not because it was a completely frivilous lawsuit..and because EliteFitness had the money to defend it. As embarrassing as it was, I’m sure it probably wasn’t as embarrassing as this:

Now, they’re going after half a dozen nutritional companies for patent infringement, and included in the lawsuit are their bodybuilding.com “reps”:

1. Black China Labs - Case Number 1:2008cv00808
2. Millennium Sport Technologies - Case Number 1:2008cv00809
3. Nimbus Nutrition - Case Number 1:2008cv00854
4. USP Labs - Case Number 1:2008cv00852
5. Beast Nutrition -  Case Number 1:2008cv00890
6. IForce Nutrition - Case Number 1:2008cv00894

http://dockets.justia.com/browse/sta…dce/noscat-10/

If you don’t know what a “Rep” is, it’s basically someone who talks up a particular product or brand on the forums, and gets some free products in return. Clearly the reps for these various companies had nothing to do with product formulation per se, and MuscleTech (who has already filed for bankruptcy in the past) is getting a good deal of negative publicity out of the whole mess (tens of thousands of viewers at current posting).

I’m not 100% sure if their claims of patent infringement are going to hold water in court, but I know that when Syntrax attempted to sue various company Reps on bodybuilding.com, the negative publicity was devestating to the company, and they slipped several places in the bodybuilding.com top companies listing (i.e. their sales on bodybuilding.com were substantially decreased - which is a  very big deal as bodybuilding.com is the largest online supplement retailer).

Currently, MuscleTech is one of the most disliked brands on most internet forums (probably all forums), but their huge national advertising campaign has seen them through all of the negative publicity they’ve received over the past few years (like when the NY Times covered the firing of Christian Boeving, one of their top models).

In a lawsuit from Oklahoma, internal Muscletech documents showed that they were purposely misleading the public::

One study, for instance, found that Hydroxycut users lost 15 pounds of fat mass in 12 weeks, while those taking a placebo lost 10. In an internal memorandum accompanying the study, a Muscletech official warned, ”None of these results can be deemed significant,” adding that ”Hydroxycut can’t be claimed as superior” to the placebo. To get around that, the official proposed that copy writers simply say, ”Lose 15 lbs. of fat in 12 weeks with Hydroxycut and exercise!”

Furthermore:

The most problematic study came next, court records show. Four subjects dropped out and were replaced, complaining of symptoms like heart palpitations and high blood pressure. Four more had to lower their doses, two under doctors’ orders.

When this study generated no strong scientific claims — Hydroxycut users lost more weight, but the numbers were not statistically significant — the company demanded new data omitting the dropouts. That kind of analysis is widely considered scientifically inferior. Although the principal researcher, Douglas Kalman [who writes the "Fat Attack" column for Muscular Development], at first resisted, he was eventually persuaded.

”That’s unacceptable,” Dr. Marcia Angell, a former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine, said in a recent interview.

”You don’t change your protocol as you go along,” added Dr. Angell, who reviewed the court records at the request of The New York Times. ”And you certainly don’t do it to satisfy someone with a commercial interest in the outcome.”

In the end, the published abstract ignored the four dropouts and said the product was safe — precisely because it had not raised blood pressure or heart rates.

Those problems with the study were also initially hidden from the court in documents that, days before trial, were found to have been altered. The company’s obfuscation so angered Judge Robin Cauthron of district court that she refused to honor a confidentiality agreement when the suit was settled in January.

I’m not sure how all of this will play out in a court of law, and it’s apparent that these other companies probably don’t have the money to fight MuscleTech, but it’s a public relations nightmare for them, just like most of their recent moves. This is almost as much of a nightmare as when they used a photo of a woman who had just given birth (Marla Duncan, a professional fitness model), as their “before” picture! However, if you’re a professional fitness model who has just given birth, you can expect Hydroxycut to work this well for you:

I’ve scheduled an interview with one of the defendants in the case, and will be trying to squeeze some facets of this information into my upcoming book, as it relates to the steroid industry.

23 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

Anthony Roberts on Superhuman Radio talking about Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARMs + S-4)

Show # 234

12/17/2008

-  SARMs The Next Generation Of Undetectable Performance Enhancers

23 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators

22 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

More on Matthew Peltz of Medline Pharmaceuticals (and Univex)!

Photo courtesy of MesoRX.

Without getting into too much detail about how I know this, I’m fairly confident saying Matthew Peltz, who is awaiting sentencing for being one of the principals involved with Medline Pharmaceuticals was also the guy who was busted running Univex (both were underground labs being run out of Arizona). It also seems likely that he was the person who snitched out his co-conspirators, and that he may still be providing information to law enforcement.

If you take a look at the photo above (the Anabolic SuperStore photo), and then compare it with this archived Univex website, you’ll see that everything (the stock photography, the colors, the font, etc…) is virtually identical.

• Supplying Quality Pharmaceuticals for the serious athlete.

At this point, it should be pretty obvious that Medline was being run by the same guy (Matthew Peltz) as Univex (which had already been busted). The websites are virtually identical, both were from Arizona, etc…

Somehow Peltz avoided prison time for running Univex, then went on to start another underground lab (Medline), and used the same website design as the first one. Not too bright.

Although all of his current co-conspirators have already pleaded guilty and been sentenced, his own sentencing is scheduled for next year (in January) - and since this is his second offense, he is looking at a long time in jail.

I can only imagine, based on what I’m hearing and seeing, that he has worked out a deal to cooperate with law enforcement, and if you look up his user names (Anabolic-ss, Univex, Medline, Helpful One, and many others), you’ll see that he was a member of several websites (Steroid.com, MesoRx, LEF, etc…), and still has active user accounts on all of them.

19 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

More names and associates from Redicat’s records

Visitor Hits for RediCat’s site (before it was closed): 228,401+

Yesterday I told you that Redicat (Ashley Vincent Livingston) had been extradited into the United States, and was charged with a variety of steroid-related crimes. I also published a list of his references and associates - which was simply a list of people that RediCat had claimed would vouch for his credibility and integrity (frankly, the list is directly off the Redicat site). The following is a supplemental list of companies, sites, and people that were listed elsewhere on RediCat’s site, and in his records, whom he had dealings with:

ChemOne Research - no surprise here, as Chaos and Rainjack (David and Rick, the owners of ChemOne) were both listed numerous times as references for Redicat. On the Redicat website, the full ChemOne price list appeared, with prices for IGF, Clenbuterol, and H.C.G.

SterileSyringes.com - again, no huge surprise, as this is a “sponsor” of ProfessionalMuscle also, where Redicat had a banner ad. It is a syringe company located in Australia, where the owner of ProfessionalMuscle.com lives.

Synthetek Industries - another shocker…this is the company that produces various injectable compounds (like Syntherol), and owned by the guy who owns ProfessionalMuscle.com.

Howtodoinjections.com - Owned by the owner of ProfessionalMuscle.

Discussworldissues.com - a great site to discuss world issues with other bodybuilders, owned by the owner of ProfessionalMuscle. I’d rather discuss bodybuilding with politicians, personally.

Gymenycricket@safe-mail.net and tigronessd@squatmail.com (RainMan from SteroidEncyclopaedia.com) provided written testimonials for RediCat about how well his products work.

Once again, I hope this list doesn’t upset anyone, but these companies, people, sites, and names are all ones that openly appeared on RediCat’s site already, so I think it’s important to make people aware of the situation.

17 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

RediCat Extradited to the United States - providing information on customers

Last year, I was the first to tell you that Redicat and British Dragon were busted. Redicat (Ashley Vincent Livingston) was extradited by American officials and is now officially in United States Custody. If you were someone listed as one of RediCat’s references or customers, then you can be in a lot of trouble right now. I have provided a list of everyone who was ever listed as a reference or friend on RediCat’s site here.

Check that list - because half the internet is on it! You NEED to know this information, if you are on the internet, at all - because I can’t even think of a site or a “well known” moderator, administrator, or site owner who isn’t on the list. Check it out! (Personally, I’m on the list twice!).

People are going to be pissed off at me for putting their names out there, but those are the breaks. My name is on the list too, and I could easily have taken it off before publishing it - but I didn’t.

Since he was arrested, Redicat spent 8 months in a Thai prison, allegedly being tortured. During this time, he (supposedly) cooperated fully with Thai police, providing them with extensive information about his customers and business associates. According to this blogger, he provided law enforcement officials with:

• 1. Access to 10 years of complete order records.
  2. A list of bribes and gifts given to various board moderators [which included free product, Rolex watches and cash].
  3. Details of payments to various bodybuilding forums for banner ads and other forms of online advertising.
  4. Statements detailing purchases of stock made from well known suppliers and manufacturers.

I can’t officially confirm or deny that this is in fact the case, regarding information provided to Thai police, but Redicat was involved with many people at all levels and on virtually every single board. I’m not sure if I would say that RediCat “bribed” anyone but he was generous in giving out freebies and samples of his products. I don’t know about cash bribes, but he was pretty generous with freebes, and they were given to at least 1-2 moderators (usually the whole staff) on every medium to large site on the ‘net.

I was listed as a reference for him, as were most staff members on half of the sites on the internet. In any case, he was taken into United States custody by U.S. Marshall Special Agent Jason Sherrell, on December 9, 2008 at Los Angeles International Airport.

He is currently in a  facility in Seattle, Washington where he awaits a trial for steroid distribution, conspiracy and money laundering. Edwin Crawley (Ox from British Dragon) is also named as a co-conspirator. With the amount of evidence against him, I can only imagine that he will plead guilty and co-operate fully.

Ashley Vincent Livingston (Redicat) will remain in the custody of the United States Attorney General while awaiting trial, and immigration authority has placed a hold on his ability to travel out of the United States (which doesn’t matter, since he’s in Prison)…and  since he had all of his assets seized, he can now no longer afford an attorney and instead has to go with a public federal defender.

Hat tip to Millard Baker, for breaking the story.

16 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

List of Sites, Administrators, and Moderators whose names were on RediCat’s site and in his records (List is from 2007)

16 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

More Information on Medline Pharmaceuticals and Anabolic-Superstore (Twenty Two Months? Or Twenty Two years )

Yesterday I told you about Edwin Porter (a/k/a Medline Pharmaceuticals, a/k/a  Anabolic-Superstore), who received 22 years in prison for dealing steroids on the internet. I remarked that it was an exceptionally long sentence, and that his co-defendants probably rolled, because they received very light sentences in comparison to his (home detention, and a few months in prison, etc…).

Just in case you never visited the Anabolic-Superstore.com site, here’s what the main page told us:

• Supplying Quality Pharmaceuticals for the serious athlete.
• Anablic Superstore is a Pharmaceutical Procurement Company. Products are made to our specifications and within our quality control guidelines. Products are independently quality-tested by the Anabolic Superstore before release.
• Potency meets or exceeds label claims. Our guarantee to you.
• Due to international and local FDA regulations, products do not display a license number. However, the same stringent measures as outlined above always apply.
• Anabolic Superstore is the exclusive distributor of Medline Pharmaceutical Products.

Of course, usually when you see “exclusive distributor” of a certain UG Lab, it’s almost 100% of the time that the UG Lab actually runs the site you see it on. Edwin was (of course) the mastermind behind Medline Pharmaceuticals, the underground lab - who happened to be the guy running “Anabolic-Superstore.com” and selling steroids on MySpace.  (his email addy was “Anabolic-SS@Hushmail.com).

You can find posts from him on various sites all over the internet, including the Life Extention Foundation forums (LEF.org) under the handle “Helpful One” and on MesoRx under the handle anabolic-ss. Here’s one of his cycles that he posted (he preferred short “burst” type cycles):

Week 1
500 mg of Test E Front loaded
400 Tren Enanthate
500 Primobolan
50mg of Anavar ED
Week 2-6
250 mg of Test E
400 Tren Enanthate
500 Primobolan
50mg of Anavar ED
Week 7-8
50mg of Anavar ED
Week 9 Start PCT
Either Clomid or
HCG at 1000iu a day for 4 days and then 3 days off and repeat in week 10.

Anyway, I’m getting off topic here. I received my information on Edwin Porter’s sentence from the Arizona Republic (Newspaper), in an article which stated:

A Chandler man was sentenced to 22 years in prison by a federal judge in New Haven, Conn., Tuesday, for manufacturing and selling steroids on the Internet.

Edwin Porter, 42, pleaded guilty in June for conspiring with two other Arizonans to buy more than a kilogram of raw steroid powder from China, manufacture anabolic steroids and then distribute them to people around the country through MySpace.com, according to a release from the U.S. AttorneyOffice in the District of Connecticut.

Seems simple enough, right?

Wrong. Because today I read this article, in the East Valley Tribune (Newspaper), which tells me that it was really a 22 month (!) sentence:

Edwin Porter, 42, of Chandler, was sentenced Tuesday to 22 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Mark Kravitz in New Haven, Conn., and three years of probation for his role in planning to distribute the performance enhancing drug.

The defendants in this case were Edwin F. Porter, and Matthew J. Peltz, Tyler J. Lunn, and Walter T. Corey - all of whom were charged with conspiring to distribute and distribution of anabolic steroids. Initially, Peltz, Lunn and Corey faced up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $750,000. Porter, (who was also charged with lying to the FBI) faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

In the end, it’s not too shabby to have been facing that kind of time, and get off with only a few months…but that’s a typical move with sentences and law enforcement…they pile it on you when you’re arrested, so they have room to bargain when you cop a plea (or they have leverage to use against you, and they trade it for information, a/k/a snitching).

Here are their sentences (currently):

Matthew Peltz -Will be Sentenced next year (suspicious)

Edwin Porter - 22 months in prison (according to the court documents)

Tyler Lunn - 5 months in prison + probation

Walter Corey - 2 years of probation + 6 months of home detention

I don’t know why Matthew Peltz being sentenced next year? He pleaded guilty with Tyler Lunn, who has already been sentenced, and also way before Edwin Porter, who has been sentenced. It just doesn’t look right to me, for one reason or another.

But that’s the way the Medline Pharmaceuticals arrest and conviction went down. I’d be very careful if I had dealings with them.

15 December 2008 in Uncategorized No comments

Medline Pharmaceuticals: I’m pretty sure they rolled (snitch alert)!