Weekly Legal Roundup

Diamonds, energy supplements and cholesterol reducing drugs made legal headlines in the I-think-you’re-lying-to-me category during the week of February 11, 2013.

Two new false advertising actions were filed:

• It’s a fella’s fantasy: going to Costco to pick out new truck tires and simultaneously buying your woman a Tiffany engagement ring at a steep discount price. The problem is, according to Tiffany & Co.,  Costco knows it’s a fake, but is still passing it off as the real deal. But fear not because Tiffany is suing Costco to ensure that such deceptive advertising stops. Well, bargain seekers, there’s always cubic zirconia. 
• In the latest chapter of issues surrounding dimethylamylamine (more popularly called DMAA), the parents of a 22-year-old soldier, who died after consuming DMAA in a product known as Jack3d, have brought a wrongful death action against GNC, and USPlabs, the marketers of Jack3d. According to the complaint, Jack3d is deceptively marketing the product as safe and effective.

And time to say farewell to a deceptive case:

• Merck has agreed to settle two class-action lawsuits against it over its cholesterol medication Vytorin.  The settlement is for a whopping $688 million.  The two lawsuits were filed by shareholders, who alleged, among other things, that Merck made false and misleading statements regarding the effectiveness and economic success of Vytorin in press releases and other public disclosures.