Federal Trade Commission Sues Gravity Defyer and its Owner for Violating FTC Order and Making Baseless Pain-Relief Claims to Market Footwear

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action versus California-primarily based Gravity Defyer Medical Technological know-how Company and its operator Alexander Elnekaveh, submitting a grievance in federal district court docket to permanently end their allegedly misleading discomfort-aid claims for Gravity Defyer footwear.

In a grievance submitted in federal district court, the FTC alleged that Elnekaveh violated a 2001 buy barring him from these allegedly misleading promotion by creating scientifically unsupported claims and employing deceptive consumer testimonies to promote Gravity Defyer products and solutions. The FTC claimed that the company’s commercials frequently qualified older Americans struggling from discomfort-linked circumstances like arthritis.

“Ignoring a prior Commission get, Gravity Defyer and its owner employed wrong ache-relief claims to goal more mature Us residents and undercut truthful competitors,” explained Samuel Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Safety. “Health–primarily based statements have to have science-centered evidence, and faking it by misusing research and shopper critiques breaks the legislation.”

Since at the very least 2016, the defendants have marketed their Gravity Defyer footwear as made up of soles with “VersoShock” engineering that supposedly relieves soreness, like pain in men and women suffering from numerous healthcare disorders. In accordance to the FTC’s grievance, the advertisements claim, with no proficient and dependable scientific proof, that Gravity Defyer footwear:

• will decrease pain, like knee, back again and foot ache

• will ease discomfort in men and women suffering from many ailments these as plantar fasciitis, arthritis, joint suffering, and heel spurs and

• is clinically tested to minimize discomfort, which includes 85 p.c significantly less knee agony, 91 p.c considerably less back soreness, 92 per cent less ankle soreness, and 75 p.c significantly less foot agony.

Gravity Defyer has offered more than 100 designs of footwear for guys and girls on its site, which includes athletic sneakers, informal sneakers, dress shoes, hiking sneakers and boots, and sandals. Prices have ranged from $140 for men’s and women’s sandals to $155 for the broadly marketed Mighty Wander walking footwear, and $235 for men’s perform boots.

The business sells Gravity Defyer footwear on its possess site, by way of its in-house get in touch with center, and at retailers during the state, together with The Going for walks Corporation, Hammacher Schlemmer, and Shoe Town, according to the FTC. It advertises the solutions as a result of journal adverts, Fb advertisements, World wide web advertisements, radio commercials and catalogs.

1 of the company’s advertisements mentioned that Gravity Defyer sneakers are “clinically confirmed pain defying footwear.” Another claimed, “Enjoy the gains of exercise, with verified suffering aid.” The company’s adverts cite a research to again up their claims, but the FTC alleges this study has considerable flaws and was inadequate to determine the outcomes of donning Gravity Defyer footwear.

In submitting the criticism, the Commission is trying to get an get completely barring the defendants from producing deceptive or deceptive ache-relief statements, as well as civil penalties and other relief.

The Fee vote to authorize the team to approve the criticism and proposed get was 4-. It was submitted in the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia.

Take note: The Fee authorizes the filing of a grievance when it has “reason to believe” that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the regulation and it seems to the Fee that a proceeding is in the community curiosity.