Settlement Date:
12/12/2024
Case Name:
Environmental Research Center, Inc. vs. BodyHealth.com, LLC
Court Name:
Alameda County Superior Court - Hayward
Plaintiff:
Environmental Research Center, Inc.
Plaintiff Attorney:
Environmental Research Center
Injunctive Relief:
3.1 Beginning on the Compliance Date, BodyHealth shall be permanently enjoined
from manufacturing for sale in the State of California, “Distributing into the State of
California,” or directly selling in the State of California, any Covered Product that exposes a
person to a “Daily Lead Exposure Level” of more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per day and/or
“Daily Cadmium Exposure Level” of more than 4.1 micrograms of cadmium per day and/or,
with respect to the Mercury Covered Product, a “Daily Mercury Exposure Level” of more than
0.3 micrograms of mercury per day unless it meets the warning requirements under Section
3.2.
*Non-Contingent Civil Penalty:
$ 12,000.00
Attorney(s) Fees and Costs:
$ 67,435.00
Payment in Lieu of Penalty:
$ 5,034.00 (Amounts rounded. Actual Amounts: Civil Penalty, $12,000.00, Atty fees and costs: $67,465.30 and ASP $5,033.65 4.4 $5,033.65 shall be distributed to ERC as an Additional Settlement Payment
(“ASP”), which shall be subject to the Court’s ongoing judicial oversight pursuant to
California Code of Regulations, title 11, section 3204. ERC will utilize the ASP for activities
that address the same public harm as allegedly caused by Defendant in this matter. These
activities are detailed below and support ERC’s overarching goal of reducing and/or
eliminating hazardous and toxic chemicals in dietary supplement products in California. ERC’s
activities have had, and will continue to have, a direct and primary effect within the State of
California because California consumers will be benefitted by the reduction and/or elimination
of exposure to lead and/or cadmium and/or mercury in dietary supplements and/or by
providing clear and reasonable warnings to California consumers prior to ingestion of the
products. Based on a review of past years’ actual budgets, ERC is providing the following list of
activities ERC engages in to protect California consumers through Proposition 65 citizen
enforcement, along with a breakdown of how ASP funds will be utilized to facilitate those
activities: (1) ENFORCEMENT (up to 65-80%): obtaining, shipping, analyzing, and testing
dietary supplement products that may contain lead and/or cadmium and/or mercury and are
sold to California consumers. This work includes continued monitoring and enforcement of
past consent judgments and settlements to ensure companies are in compliance with their
obligations thereunder, with a specific focus on those judgments and settlements concerning
lead and/or cadmium and/or mercury. This work also includes investigation of new companies
that ERC does not obtain any recovery through settlement or judgment; (2) VOLUNTARY
COMPLIANCE PROGRAM (up to 10-20%): maintaining ERC’s Voluntary Compliance
Program by acquiring products from companies, developing and maintaining a case file, testing
products from these companies, providing the test results and supporting documentation to the
companies, and offering guidance in warning or implementing a self-testing program for lead
and/or cadmium and/or mercury in dietary supplement products; and (3) “GOT LEAD”
PROGRAM (up to 5%): maintaining ERC’s “Got Lead?” Program which reduces the numbers
of contaminated products that reach California consumers by providing access to free testing
for lead in dietary supplement products (Products submitted to the program are screened for
ingredients which are suspected to be contaminated, and then may be purchased by ERC,
catalogued, sent to a qualified laboratory for testing, and the results shared with the consumer
that submitted the product). ERC shall be fully accountable in that it will maintain adequate records to document
and will be able to demonstrate how the ASP funds will be spent and can assure that the funds
are being spent only for the proper, designated purposes described in this Consent Judgment.
ERC shall provide the Attorney General, within thirty days of any request, copies of
documentation demonstrating how such funds have been spent.)
Total Payments:
$ 84,469.00
Will settlement be submitted to court?
Contact Organization:
Environmental Research Center
Address:
3111 Camino Del Rio North, Suite 400
City, State, Zip:
San Diego, CA 92108
Phone Number:
(619) 500-3090
