Opinion ID: 177675
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Coral Calcium infomercial.

Text: For purposes of introduction, a fairly simple recitation of only the uncontested facts will suffice. Greater detail will follow as necessary in the discussion section. The Defendants on appeal are Direct Marketing Concepts, Inc. (DMC), ITV Direct, Inc. (ITV), Donald Barrett, Robert Maihos, and BP International (BP). [1] Barrett and Maihos co-own ITV and DMC, both Massachusetts corporations; generally, ITV produces infomercials, and DMC distributes the infomercials, answers calls, and processes orders. BP is a holding corporation to which Barrett eventually (and secretly) transferred some of DMC's assets. Beginning in late 2001, DMC, Barrett, and Maihos became involved in marketing the product Coral Calcium by producing and distributing an infomercial promoting that product. These Defendants then processed calls and sold Coral Calcium to consumers. The infomercial for Coral Calcium relied on the purported expertise of Robert Barefoot. In the infomercial, Barefoot asserted a number of claims regarding coral-derived calcium [2] and its supposed biological and medical properties. Barefoot claimed that all diseases are caused by a condition called acidosis: Are you getting the minerals? And if you're not, you will become acidic and you will get one of the major diseases. You can have heart disease, cancer, lupus, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis. Name the disease, they're all caused by acidosis. Barefoot then claimed that calcium derived from Okinawan coral cures these diseases: [W]e've been studying the coral calcium and I can tell you there are tens of millions of people, millions of testimonials. I've had 1,000 people tell me how they've cured their cancer. I've witnessed people get out of wheelchairs with multiple sclerosis just by getting on the coral. Barefoot asserted that coral-derived calcium was an effective cure for these diseases because it renders the body more alkaline, thereby curing acidosis: Barefoot: By the time the average American is 35, he has more calcium going out of his body and into the body and that's when it starts. By the time he's 60, 98 percent are totally calcium deficient and that's why we have people over 60 with heart disease, you know, Lupus, Parkinson's. All these diseases are caused by acidosis. ... Trudeau (host [3] ): Pain, talk about pain. Read in your book if a person has pain, muscle pain, joint pain Barefoot: Yes, yes. Trudeau: they take calcium Barefoot: Yes. Trudeau: their body turns from acid to alkaline, pain goes away. Barefoot: That's exactly Trudeau: Is that common? Barefoot: Yes, yes, very common. Barefoot went on to claim that coral-derived calcium is superior to other sources of calcium because it is 100% bioavailable, meaning that all coral-derived calcium that is ingested is also absorbed into the body. To bolster his claims, Barefoot noted that unspecified articles from the Journal of the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine said that calcium supplements reverse cancer... that's a quote. The infomercial directed potential customers to call an 800 number, on the other end of which DMC-employed telemarketers would follow a script directing them to tell potential customers that the product Coral Calcium would be 100% absorbed by their bodies and would combat degenerative diseases by rendering an acidic body more alkaline. Telemarketers were also directed to tell sick customers that they should take higher doses of Coral Calcium, up to three times the standard dose. During the relevant time period (from January 2002 to July 2003), the Coral Calcium infomercial generated $54,034,394.82 in sales, of which approximately $575,000 were transferred to Defendant BP.