U.S. court orders 3 LI companies to stop distributing dietary supplements
Three Long Island companies must stop distributing allegedly adulterated dietary supplements and misbranded drugs, which they said could be used to treat cancer, heart disease, HIV and AIDS, a U.S. District Court announced Thursday.
The three Edgewood companies — ABH Nature’s Products Inc., ABH Pharma Inc. and StockNutra.com Inc. — must destroy all dietary supplements and drugs in their possession within 15 days, according to a consent decree from the court for the Eastern District of New York.
The companies are owned by Mohammed Jahirul Islam of Flushing, Queens. The consent decree was approved Dec. 20 by the U.S. District Court, a news release said.
The consent decree resolves a lawsuit filed on Nov. 21 at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The complaint asserted that the companies manufactured and distributed dietary supplements under conditions that failed to comply with manufacturing regulations, the release said.
The FDA found problems during at least six inspections of the companies' facilities conducted over the past several years, including failures to properly test a dietary ingredient, verify that finished batches met standards, keep proper records and investigate a consumer complaint, the release said.
While the companies said these products could be used to treat cancer, heart disease, HIV and AIDS, the FDA had not approved those products for such uses, the release said. Nor were there any published investigations showing that such products are generally recognized as safe and effective for any use.
The injunction also requires ABH and Islam to implement consumer safety measures before resuming the manufacturing or distributing of dietary supplements.
“Today’s injunction reflects the Department of Justice’s commitment to protect consumers from adulterated and misbranded dietary supplements,” Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of the Department of Justice’s Civil Division said in the release.
Craig Schneider is a Long Island native and Stony Brook University alumnus. He joined Newsday as a general assignment reporter in January 2018 after 20 years at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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