The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it filed criminal and civil enforcement actions against 117 companies and individuals.このUSPlabsの件は...
米国司法省は2015年11月17日に、117の企業や個人に対して、刑事及び民事執行措置を提訴したことを発表した。
At the center of the sweep is USPlabs, a company based in Dallas that sold the best-selling workout supplements Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, which contains the amphetamine-like stimulant dimethylamylamine, or DMAA. On Tuesday, federal prosecutors brought criminal charges against USPlabs and six of its executives related to the sale of those products.
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The indictment against USPlabs, filed in Federal District Court in Dallas, accused the supplement manufacturer of telling its retailers and wholesalers that it used natural plant extracts in its products, when in fact it was using a synthetic stimulant made in a Chinese chemical factory.
取り締まり対象の中心は、Dallasを本拠地とするUSPlabsで、ベストセラーで、DMAAを含んでいるワークアウトサプリJack3dやOxyElitreProを販売している。11月17日に、連邦検察は、USPlabsと役員6名を、これらの製品販売に関連して起訴した。Dallas連邦地裁への起訴によれば、このサプリ製造業者は「天然植物抽出物を使った」と小売り及び卸売業者に告げていたが、実際には中国の化学工場で合成されて化合物だった。
According to the indictment, the use of OxyElite Pro led to a number of liver injuries, including at least one death.
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In December 2011, after the deaths of two soldiers who had used Jack3d, the Defense Department removed all products containing DMAA from stores on military bases, including more than 100 shops operated by GNC Holdings, the nation’s largest retailer of nutritional supplements.
In 2013, under pressure from the Food and Drug Administration, USPlabs voluntarily destroyed its inventory of Jack3d and OxyElite Pro.
起訴によれば、OxyEliteProは死亡1名を含む多数の人々に肝臓障害を引き起こした。2011年12月には、Jack3dをつあった兵士2名が死亡し、国防省はDMAAを含む全商品を、英国最大のサプリ小売り業者GNC Holdingsが運営する、100以上の軍基地内店舗から撤去した。また、2013年には、FDAの圧力で、USPlabsはJack3dとOxyEliteProを自主回収・廃棄した。
[PETER LATTMAN and ANAHAD O'CONNOR: "Makers of Nutritional Supplements Charged in Federal Sweep" (2015/11/17 on NewYorkTimes]
"Defendants sometimes tested the products on themselves and sold the ones that made them feel good," Benjamin Mizer, a principal deputy assistant attorney general told a news conference. "With one product, defendants allegedly recognized that the substance could potentially cause liver toxicity, but without causing conducting a single test, they went ahead and sold."悪質かつ被害の大きなものから手を付けたようだが、これは始まり。
「被告は時々製品を自ら検査して、気分がよくなる製品を販売していた。ひとつの製品に関して、被告は肝臓に有害である可能性のある物質が含めれていることを認識していながら、検査を一度も行わずに、製造販売していたとの嫌疑がある」とenjamin Mizer司法副長官は述べた。
[KATE GIBSON:"U.S. says supplements billed as natural can be toxic" (2015/11/17) on CBSnews]
The Justice Department, which worked alongside the F.D.A. and other federal agencies in its investigation, said on Tuesday it had also filed complaints against numerous companies that have sold supplements as cures for diseases or that were otherwise in violation of the law.今後、引き続いて、多くのサプリ製造業者が摘発されるもよう。
The case against USPlabs comes as part of a broader crackdown on the supplement industry, which faces calls for tougher regulation of its products after a number of deaths and illnesses linked to them.
[PETER LATTMAN and ANAHAD O'CONNOR: "Makers of Nutritional Supplements Charged in Federal Sweep" (2015/11/17 on NewYorkTimes]
なお、小売店チェーンは、今回の取り締まりの対象となっていない。