NAD Refers Advertising For Herbal Groups’ ‘Prostalex Plus’ To FTC

New York, NY – May 5, 2009 – The National Advertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has referred advertising published by Herbal Groups, Inc., to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for further review. The advertiser declined to participate in an NAD proceeding.

NAD, the advertising industry’s self-regulatory forum, asked the advertiser to provide substantiation for health claims made for Prostalex Plus.

NAD requested substantiation for claims that included:

• “Revolutionary new drug-free formula helps you regain your youthful prostate function so you’ll urinate less often and sleep though the night.”
• “Introducing Prostalex Plus, the amazing new all-natural supplement for men that helps solve your urination problems, improve prostate function, and boost prostate health so you won’t need to urinate as often, you’ll enhance urination function, and you’ll finally be able to sleep though the night without any trips to the bathroom!”
• “The amazing new Prostalex Plus drug-free supplement has been scientifically formulated to reduce your need to urinate by combating the natural growth of your prostate, which occurs naturally as you age and is the cause of most urination problems in men.”
• “Containing rare, high-potency, all-natural ingredients, the Prostalex Plus formula is unique because it not only stops your constant need to urinate, it also helps improve your ability to urinate (so you’ll no longer have trouble getting your stream to start), and it helps you maintain a healthy prostate.”
• “Prostalex Plus has shown in clinical studies to naturally treat the cause of urinary and sexual dysfunction issues by helping to reduce the size of an enlarged prostate, leading to long-term, lasting results.”
• “Prostalex Plus has been shown in clinical studies to reduce the size of the prostate, leading to: a reduced urge to urinate, improvement in Urinary Flow, improvement in Erectile Issues, and increased Sex Drive.”

NAD was concerned about the testimonials featured in the advertising:

• “I used to get up more than 6 times a night. Now I don’t have to get up even once!”
• “I almost had to quit my job as a truck driver, but now I can go for hours and hours without having to look for a bathroom.”
• “All my urination problems – urgency, frequency, low flow, dribble – they’re totally gone now!” 

Further, NAD was concerned that “the Prostate Health Blog,” which is linked to the advertiser’s Website and appears to be an independently written blog, is actually advertising by the company.

In response to the NAD inquiry, the advertiser submitted a study on Prostalex, but declined to participate in the NAD process. NAD was disappointed that the advertiser declined to participate in the self-regulatory process, particularly in light of the strong health-related claims made in advertising. Pursuant to Section 2.9 of the NAD/NARB Procedures, NAD will refer this matter to the FTC and FDA for review.