Four more people who say they suffered liver failure, hepatitis and related injuries after taking the dietary supplement OxyELITE Pro are suing the manufacturer and the retailer that sold the product to them.
Nicholas Akau, Malissa Igafo, Calvin Ishihara and Gay Anne K. Mattson filed separate lawsuits in U.S. District Court Thursday against Dallas-based USPlabs, company principals Jonathan Vincent Doyle and Jacob Geissler, and GNC Corp.
All four claim they suffered hepatitis and liver failure last year after consuming OxyELITE Pro Super Thermo, which they had purchased in GNC stores here. Akau also claims he suffered acute liver failure.
As in other civil claims filed here last year, the new lawsuits accuse USPlabs and GNC of selling and marketing various versions of OxyELITE Pro even though they knew the products contained aegeline, an ingredient the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had not approved as a dietary supplement because its safety had not been tested.
According to the new lawsuits, USPlabs added aegeline into new formulations of OxyELITE Pro because it was forced to remove another ingredient, DMAA, which the FDA said had been linked to reports of cardiac and nervous system disorders and death.
DMAA, also known as methylhexanamine or dimethylamylamine, belongs to a group of compounds, including ephedrine and amphetamines, that constrict blood vessels.
As the number of cases of liver damage and acute hepatitis linked to consumption of OxyELITE Pro began to mount, the state Department of Health ordered island retailers in October to take the weight-loss product off their shelves.
The following month the department collected the inventory of OxyELITE Pro for destruction but held on to the product to preserve it as evidence in upcoming litigation.
The Health Department last reported that it is investigating 43 people who developed symptoms of acute liver inflammation, also known as nonviral hepatitis, after consuming various versions of OxyELITE Pro, including two who required liver transplants and one who died.
