In Response to NAD Inquiry, Maker of Vayarin Dietary Supplement Says Product has Been Discontinued and Company has Closed

New York, NY – May 13, 2019 – VAYA Pharma, Inc., the U.S. manufacturer and supplier of Vayarin, a dietary supplement marketed for the management of ADHD, has advised the National Advertising Division that the product has been discontinued and it has closed its business.

NAD is an investigative unit of the advertising industry’s system of self-regulation and is administered by the Council of Better Business Bureaus.

As part of NAD’s routine monitoring program, NAD requested substantiation for the following claims:

• “For the clinical dietary management of lipid imbalances associated with ADHD in children.”
• “Clinically shown to improve emotional regulation and attention.”
• “Proven safe in children.”
• “New research suggests that the medical food developed for the management of ADHD symptoms in children may improve mood and behavior, with few side effects.”
• Testimonial:
  • “Vayarin has helped my 3 children to come off of ADHD medication and other meds, and still help them manage ADHD. One is on the Autism spectrum and even his teachers say that ‘he is awake now with a light in his eyes.’ He was the most hyperactive child his doctors and teachers had ever seen, yet they just kept adding more and more medications. Now he takes only a mild medication for sleep and he is a normal active boy, not hyperactive.”
• Social Media Response:
  • “Thank you for your interest in Vayarin for your 3 children. We are very pleased to hear that they have all received significant benefits from taking our unique product.”

NAD also requested substantiation for the implied claim that Vayarin is effective in treating autism.

VAYA advised NAD in writing that, for reasons unrelated to the present matter, it has permanently discontinued the advertised product in the United States, and has closed VAYA Pharma, Inc. NAD, relying on the advertiser’s representations, determined that the issue is rendered moot and did not review the claims on their merits. The voluntarily discontinued claims will be treated, for compliance purposes, as though NAD recommended their discontinuance and the advertiser agreed to comply.

In its advertiser’s statement, VAYA agreed to comply with NAD’s decision and stated that “based on its parent’s business decision to focus on serving as an ingredient-supplier rather than a marketer of consumer products, VAYA has closed and U.S. sales of its products have been discontinued.  VAYA believes that there will be no issue of ‘advertiser compliance’ to address.”

Note: A recommendation by NAD to modify or discontinue a claim is not a finding of wrongdoing and an advertiser’s voluntary discontinuance or modification of claims should not be construed as an admission of impropriety. It is the policy of NAD not to endorse any company, product, or service. Decisions finding that advertising claims have been substantiated should not be construed as endorsements.