Have questions about the GOLO lawsuit? We explain what the lawsuit was about and share the outcome in this overview.
The GOLO lawsuit was filed in 2021 and involves allegations of false and misleading advertising by GOLO, LLC, a Delaware-based company. Lead plaintiff Vincenzza Bubak filed a nationwide class action lawsuit alleging the company made false and misleading statements in connection with Release, a dietary supplement.
Notably, Judge Drozd, the judge presiding over the Golo lawsuit in the District Court in the Eastern District of California, recently ruled in favor of GOLO and granted their Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit. The January 2024 decision to dismiss the GOLO lawsuit is a major victory for the company.
But what was the basis for the lawsuit? And how did it unfold? We break it down in this article.
At its core, the case is about statements GOLO made in connection with its Release dietary supplement and its health benefits, in particular its ability to address insulin resistance and promote weight loss.
Vincenzza Bubak, the lead plaintiff for the case, bought GOLO dietary supplements in December 2020. Bubak alleges the pills did not work as advertised and that she had to handle shipping and handling costs when she requested a refund from the company.
The thrust of the lawsuit is that GOLO’s “prominent and systematic mislabeling of the Product and its false and deceptive advertising form a pattern of unlawful and unfair business practices that harms the public and, if unstopped, could lead to substantial societal harm.”
The lawsuit makes allegations related to three key categories:
The lawsuit alleges that GOLO made statements related to Insulin Resistance and its product that, taken as a whole, amount to “implied disease claims” that are improper given the product’s branding.
And as noted, the lawsuit takes issue with other company claims and GOLO’s use of statements that its supplements are “clinically-proven.” The plaintiffs allege the basis for those claims were not peer-reviewed studies and, according to the Complaint, “[i]n order for a claim to be considered scientifically and clinically proven, as [GOLO] claim[s], the claim must be widely accepted in its applicable field and have overwhelming evidence supporting it. Moreover, there must be a consensus in the scientific community agreeing with the representations.”
The lawsuit alleges violations of:
The class action lawsuit also alleges Breach of Express Warranty and Breach of Implied Warranty of Merchantability.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate dietary supplements, including weight-loss pills, the same way that it does for food and prescription drugs. For this reason, it should be noted that the FDA does not “back” GOLO, but nor is that lack of FDA approval inherently a red flag.
GOLO’s disclaimer on its website states, among other things, “GOLO is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease and has not been evaluated by the FDA.”
Meanwhile, one of GOLO’s questions on its FAQs page is, “Is Release FDA approved?” GOLO notes, “Supplements and vitamins do not require FDA approval but the ingredients in any supplement or vitamin must be on the FDA approved list known as GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe). All the ingredients in Release are GRAS approved. In addition, there are over 100 studies on the safety and efficacy of the ingredients in Release."
So, what's the current status of the GOLO lawsuit? As mentioned, Judge Drozd recently ruled in favor of GOLO and granted their Motion to Dismiss the GOLO lawsuit in January 2024.
The dismissal of the GOLO lawsuit occurs relatively early in the procedural posture for a class action lawsuit and is a major victory for GOLO.
Many people deal with weight gain and have difficulty losing weight, creating a robust market for diets, nutritional supplements, and more. But there have been a number of other class action lawsuits involving diet pills and their parent companies in recent years, including lawsuits that also allege false advertising and misleading statements.
Examples of such lawsuits include:
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