WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Marketers of a pain relief device, that falsely claimed to treat chronic pain has been banned, and agreed to pay fine under a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.
NeuroMetrix, Inc., which marketed an electrical nerve stimulation device called Quell, has agreed to pay at least $4 million and stop making deceptive claims that the device treats pain throughout the body when placed below the knee and is clinically proven and cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to do so.
With the opioid crisis, consumers are searching for drug-free pain relief. Devices claiming pain relief without scientific support harm consumers and undermine the market for non-drug products.
Since 2015, the Massachusetts-based company has been selling Quell, a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation device designed to be placed below a user's knee, according to the FTC's complaint.
Quell was sold across the United States touting it as 'clinically proven' and 'FDA cleared' device for widespread chronic pain relief. The FTC alleged that the claims lacked scientific evidence and that the company's claims about clinical proof and the scope of FDA clearance are false.
FTC ordered NeuroMetrix, Inc. CEO Shai Gozani to pay the $4 million fine within 30 days, and to turn over up to an additional $4.5 million in future foreign licensing payments.
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