Kwan v. Sanmedica Int'l, No. 15-15496 (9th Cir. 2017)
Annotate this CaseSerena Kwan appealed the dismissal of her second amended complaint for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In 2014, Kwan, On Behalf of Herself and All Others Similarly Situated, filed a class action against Defendants-Appellees, SanMedica International, LLC (“SanMedica”), and Sierra Research Group, LLC (“Sierra”), alleging violations of California’s Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) and California’s Consumers Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”). The complaint was based on an allegation that the defendants falsely represented that their product, SeroVital, provided a 682% mean increase in Human Growth Hormone (“HGH”) levels, that it was clinically tested, and that “peak growth hormone levels” were associated with “youthful skin integrity, lean musculature, elevated energy production, [and] adipose tissue distribution." The Ninth Circuit concluded the district court correctly concluded that California law did not provide for a private cause of action to enforce the substantiation requirements of California’s unfair competition and consumer protection laws. Further, the district court did not err in concluding that Kwan’s second amended complaint failed to allege facts that would support a finding that SanMedica International’s claims regarding its product, SeroVital, were actually false. Accordingly, the Court affirmed dismissal.
Court Description: California Law. The panel affirmed the district court’s Fed. R. Civ. P. 12(b)(6) dismissal of plaintiff’s second amended complaint, which alleged that defendants made claims concerning its product, SeroVital, that were unsubstantiated. Pursuant to the holding in National Council Against Health Fraud, Inc. v. King Bio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 107 Cal. App. 4th 1336, 1344 (Cal. App. 2003), the panel held that the district court did not err in concluding that neither the Unfair Competition Law nor the Consumer Legal Remedies Act provided plaintiff with a private cause of action to enforce the substantiation provisions of California’s unfair competition and/or consumer protection laws. The panel held that the district court did not err in concluding that the second amended complaint failed to allege facts that would support a finding that defendants’ claims regarding its product, SerioVital, were actually false. The panel also held that the district court did not err by declining to address plaintiff’s complaint as if this case were a case brought under the Lanham Act. KWAN V. SANMEDICA INT’L 3
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