Major distributor of mislabeled Viagra/Cialis pills target of false advertising lawsuit
San Diego County company supplies pharmaceutical-laced drugs to Southern California convenience markets, gas stations, smoke shops and liquor stores
Trepco Imports and Distribution, Inc., of Poway, Calif., distributes more than two dozen of these male enhancement products — calling them “vitamins” — through various DBA entities, selling them to hundreds of gas stations, convenience markets, liquor stores and smoke shops in Southern California. The pills are intentionally mislabeled as “herbal” or “natural” and consumers are not informed they contain the regulated pharmaceuticals.
Viagra and Cialis can only be prescribed by a physician. Due to an increase in reports of consumer harm from adulterated male enhancement pills, federal agencies have intensified efforts against their proliferation. Federal authorities believe a South Korean national arrested in October 2018 was a ringleader in an international scheme to import, package, and distribute Rhino, Libigrow and similar products.
Nam Hyun Lee, 60, of Fullerton, Calif. was named in the 12-count grand jury indictment1 alleging conspiracy, three counts of smuggling misbranded drugs into the country and eight counts of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. It is unknown whether federal agents have concluded their investigation into the criminal conspiracy.
Despite the government’s increased efforts to police the marketplace, and despite numerous warnings to Trepco’s lawyers, the lawsuit alleges that Trepco knowingly continues to offer these pills for sale to convenience stores. Given the gap in law enforcement and the impact on the marketplace for supplements in this niche, federal unfair competition law provides a way to protect the public, according to the lawsuit filed July 1 in federal district court in San Diego.
“Trepco continues to distribute products the FDA has identified as dangerous, despite warnings from the federal government and my office,” said Los Angeles Attorney Robert Tauler, of Tauler Smith LLP2. “Sworn affidavits my office has obtained as part of our investigation say that Trepco generates over $250 million a year in revenue. They should just stop selling this stuff.”
Tauler is a nationally recognized authority on adulterated health supplements and false advertising law who represents Houston-based Outlaw Laboratory, which makes a natural male enhancement supplement that follows the law and all FDA guidelines.
Trepco Vice President Wiam Paulus in June told a San Diego magazine that a religious vision inspired her to create a nonprofit to help widows, orphans and sexually abused girls from the Yazidi refugee community in Iraq, which suffered greatly from ISIS terrorism. “Ms. Paulus clearly believes in helping innocent people, which makes Trepco’s continued distribution of dangerous pills — against FDA warnings — all the more surprising,” Tauler said.
The case number is 19CV1229CABKSC, filed in the Southern District of California, U.S. District Court.
Robert Frank
Newsroom Public Relations
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WATCH NOW: Gas stations selling dangerous male enhancement pills despite warnings at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQcOY330ToY
1 https://www.justice.gov/usao-cdca/pr/fullerton-man-arrested-federal-charges-alleging-illegal-importation-and-sale-male
2 http://www.taulersmith.com
3 http://sdvoyager.com/interview/meet-trailblazer-wiam-paulus/