In New York and throughout the country, new weight loss supplements are always coming on the market, as other similar proposed remedies lose their initial interest and are withdrawn or fade away into obscurity. Many of those products have in the past been tainted with claims of one danger or another to human health. Recently, a flood of lawsuits has been unleashed against the maker of a weight loss supplement called OxyElite Pro, based on it being allegedly a dangerous product.

Numerous cases of liver disease have been reported by users of the now-suspect supplement. Several people have required liver transplants, including a 22-year-old man. Others were hospitalized with various forms of liver disease. The lawsuits have been filed against USPlabs and the apparent distributor, GNC Stores, which is an international distributor of health food products and nutritional supplements.

Under strict liability, the plaintiffs must prove that the product was defective, unreasonably dangerous to the intended user and that the injury was caused by that unreasonably dangerous defect. The Centers for Disease Control report that 72 people got sick on the supplement in the past six months. There were 47 hospitalizations out of that group of victims. A concentration of victims appears to have been from Hawaii, but there were some reported injuries in other states.

Each victim has the right to bring a claim for products liability on the basis of the dangerous product manufactured and sold by the defendants, whether in New York or any other state. Monetary compensation would cover all medical expenses, lost wages, temporary or permanent loss of future earning capacity, along with pain and suffering, loss of consortium and loss of life's pleasures. Other elements of damages may be included in the claim depending on the circumstances.

Source: hawaiinewsnow.com, "The lawsuits pile on against makers of weight loss supplements", Lynn Kawano, Aug. 22, 2014