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The Federal Trade Commission is mailing 398 checks totaling $60,791 to refund consumers nationwide who bought “Nobetes,” a dietary supplement pill deceptively advertised as an effective diabetes treatment. The average amount per check is $152.74, and consumers are getting back all of the money they spent on the product.

According to the Commission’s December 2018 complaint, between 2015 and 2018, Nobetes Corporation, along with its two officers Marvin Silver and Jeffrey Fleitman, advertised and sold Nobetes, a pill containing a concoction of vitamins, minerals, and plant extracts, as an effective treatment for consumers with diabetes.

The defendants advertised Nobetes on television, radio, Facebook, and YouTube. Television ads featured a purported expert who stated that Nobetes “helps control blood sugar within normal levels” and contains 35 supplements that can “fill the nutritional shortages that diabetes causes.” The FTC alleged the claims were either false or not supported by scientific evidence, and that Nobetes’s endorser was a paid actor, not a qualified medical expert.

The court order settling the FTC’s charges bans the defendants from advertising or selling Nobetes or any other diabetes product. It prohibits them from making health-related claims, unless they are not misleading and are supported by competent and reliable scientific evidence. It also requires the defendants to clearly disclose any unexpected material connection between an endorser and the defendants, and to pay for consumer refunds.

Consumers with questions about the refunds, or who bought Nobetes and do not receive a check, should contact the FTC’s refund administrator, JND Legal Administration, at 1-833-222-1174. Recipients should deposit or cash checks within 60 days, as indicated on the check. The FTC never requires people to pay money or provide account information to cash a refund check.

FTC law enforcement actions led to more than $2.3 billion in refunds for consumers in a one-year period between July 2017 and June 2018. To learn more about the FTC’s refund program, visit www.ftc.gov/refunds.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs, and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.