Ephedra Containing Products

Metabolife Bankruptcy - The Special Advisory Committee, of which The Law Group, LTD. Partner Pamela G. Sotoodeh is a member, has concluded its review of each claimants loss information, the Bankruptcy Plan has recived Court confirmation, the Court Appointed Mediator has published the certified allocation schedule late January 2008 the final appeal process is scheduled to be concluded the week of March 10, 2008 the trustee should start issueing payments late March.

Nutraquest Bankruptcy - Disbursement of the first of three payout installments have been made to all claimants. The next installment payout is currently scheduled for March of 2008, with the final payout in August of 2008.

On November 21, 2006 Plaintiffs Steering Committee announced a 21.25 million dollar global settlement with manufacturer, NVE. On November 2, 2006 a global settlement in the amount of 56 million dollars was announced for the Metabolife uninsured cases. In October 2006, a New Jersey Bankruptcy Judge approved Nutraquests' Plan of Reorganization which includes a global settlement in the amount of 34.5 million dollars.

INTRODUCTION The Law Group, Ltd., has filed numerous lawsuits on behalf of persons injured as a result of taking ephedra containing dietary supplements. A list of some, but not all, of the products containing ephedra include: Diet Fuel, Herbalife, Hydroxycut, Metabolife 356, Xenadrine RFA-1, Ripped Fuel, Stackers, TrimSpa, Yellow Jackets, X-Treme Lean, Metabolite and Leptoprin.

INJURIES Ephedra, also known as Ma Huang, has a wide range of both minor and serious side effects. The active ingredient in ephedra is ephedrine. The Law Group, LTD., is pursuing cases where, within hours or a few days after consuming an ephedra containing product, the consumer died, suffered a heart attack, stroke or seizure.

CURRENT STATUS Five of the ephedra manufacturers, Nutraquest, Twin Labs, Metabolife, Muscletech and NVE have filed for bankruptcy. Twin Labs claims have been settled as part of a global settlement and distributions have been made. The Law Group, Ltd. as a member of both the Nutraquest Plaintiffs Steering Committee and Official Committee of Creditors aggressively protected Plaintiffs' personal injury rights in the bankruptcy proceedings resulting in a global settlement exceeding 34 million dollars. The Bankruptcy Plan was recently confirmed and funding for the claimants is awaiting approval from the Federal Trade Commission.

Since late Spring of 2006, The Law Group, Ltd. Metabolife underinsured claims resulting in a global settlement in excess of 55 million dollars which was announced in November 2006. The allocation process is being finalized and could be concluded in early 2008.

Metabolife claims for injuries prior to August 2001, the insured cases, are currently being mediated.

Since late Spring of 2006, The Law Group, Ltd. attorneys have participated in the medication of NVE claims resulting in a global settlement in excess of 21 million dollars which was also announced in November 2006. The allocation process is being finalized as it is scheduled to be concluded in the Fall of 2007.

HISTORY An MDL (multi-district litigation) was formed in the Southern District of New York to effectively consolidate all ephedra based claims, regardless of manufacturer, which have been filed in federal court. The presiding judge set a very rigorous and demanding schedule to quickly adjudicate these lawsuits.

FDA BANS EPHEDRA As an over-the-counter herbal supplement, Ephedra was not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. However, after receiving over 800 adverse event reports regarding the use of ephedra, and after hearings on an independent review of the adverse event reports, the FDA banned the sale of ephedra in the United States in April 2004.

CONTACT US If you or a loved one have suffered a heart attack, stroke, seizure or sudden cardiac death as a result of taking ephedra, contact us.