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9785 South Monroe Street, Suite 300, Sandy, UT 84070 lifevantage.com
corporate office 801.432.9000 distributor support 866.460.7241
April 4, 2014
Lazyman FAQs
LifeVantage, together with a number of other network marketing companies, has been targeted by the Lazymanandmoney.com Website (“Lazyman”). Lazyman is written by a man named Brian McFarland. McFarland has absolutely no formal experience in dietary supplements, the law, or network marketing business. He writes for his blog solely to earn money through paid advertisers. Each time a person clicks onto his website, McFarland is paid money by his advertisers. For this reason, we caution you against visiting his site.
Unfortunately, McFarland believes that the law shields him from any requirement to write the truth. His website is full of misstatements, inaccuracies and half-‐truths. LifeVantage has filed a lawsuit against McFarland and is asking the courts to force him to delete all misstatements, inaccuracies and half-‐truths from his website. We have attempted to address some of the more blatant attempts by McFarland to wrongfully discredit LifeVantage and its products through the FAQs shown below.
FAQs
Q. Is there any validity to the Lazyman claim that Paul Myhill, a founder of Lifeline Therapeutics Inc., was really the creator of Protandim and that Dr. Joe McCord was only used for promotion purposes, and that LifeVantage later bribed Myhill to change his story?
A. In 2004, Myhill approached Dr. McCord, an expert in antioxidants and free radical diseases, to review and improve a nutritional supplement formula that would increase the level of antioxidants superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase, and glutathione peroxidase in the human body. Myhill had created a core botanical composition of ingredients, as well as options to include numerous other supporting ingredients, that he believed could increase the level of antioxidants in our body and also provide other benefits. Using that information, Myhill and Dr. McCord created Protandim from a list of 41 potential ingredients. Dr. McCord suggested that they work with 8 of the original ingredients. After further research and testing, Dr. McCord further suggested reducing the ingredients to the five currently used in Protandim to ensure the safety of the product and reduce potential side effects. The five ingredients in the final product were specific quantities of milk thistle, bacopa, ashwagandha, green tea, and turmeric, which ultimately became known as Protandim. While Paul Myhill initially had the leading role in creating Protandim and is the inventor on its patents, Myhill has always recognized the significant contributions of Dr. McCord in refining, testing, and developing Protandim, including in several public statements, all of which McFarland chooses to ignore.
Q. Lazyman writes about a Lifeline product called CMX-‐1152 being the same thing as Protandim. Is this information true?
A. No, CMX-‐1152 is not the same product as Protandim. Protandim was created by Myhill and Dr. McCord as described above. CMX-‐1152 is a completely different product.
9785 South Monroe Street, Suite 300, Sandy, UT 84070 lifevantage.com
corporate office 801.432.9000 distributor support 866.460.7241
April 4, 2014
Q. Has Dr. McCord stated that Protandim can prevent cancer, as Lazyman claims?
A. Dr. McCord has not stated that Protandim prevents cancer. As Lazyman quoted, Dr. McCord has stated, “It’s all about prevention. All of those diseases I named are very difficult to treat. For instance, every cancer has multiple mutations that are in any of thousands of different sites. Every cancer is very unique and that is why it is very hard to cure. Prevention is much easier to bring about than a cure.” Dr. McCord simply indicated that it is easier to prevent something than to cure it and he does not link cancer prevention to Protandim.
Q. Is Lazyman correct when stating that LifeVantage does not have a clinical trial to support its claims?
A. No, there are currently 15 published studies directly researching Protandim. Those studies are all available on www.pubmed.gov. For more information go to the Studies section of the LifeVantage Website: http://www.lifevantage.com/science/ or to www.pubmed.gov. Many of these studies are preclinical studies. The following published study however, was conducted on human subjects and showed a reduction in oxidative stress by an average of 40%: Nelson, SK, Bose SK, Grunwald, GK, Myhill P, McCord, JM, 2006. The Induction of Human Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase in Vivo: A Fundamentally New Approach To Antioxidant Therapy. Free Radic Biol Med 40(2):341-‐7.
Q. Is Lazyman on base when he asks "Where are the clinical studies?" and claims "The product has been around 6 years and the studies aren't there,” insinuating that LifeVantage does not have studies to support its claims?
A. It is important to understand the difference between preclinical and clinical trials, something that Lazyman fails to do. In both the pharmaceutical and dietary supplement industry, companies and independent research labs and universities perform multiple “preclinical” studies before asking humans to ingest a particular investigational drug or supplement. These tests are performed in the laboratory, are usually small in scope, and are performed in one of two ways, either (1) in vivo, or animal, testing or (2) in vitro, or test tube testing. There are currently 14 published preclinical studies on Protandim shown on pubmed.gov. For more information go to the Studies section of the LifeVantage Website: http://www.lifevantage.com/science/. Clinical tests, on the other hand, are studies, or trials, that are done in people. These types of studies are very expensive and time consuming and are not typically done in large scopes for dietary supplements. LifeVantage has conducted one clinical study on Protandim as referenced above.
9785 South Monroe Street, Suite 300, Sandy, UT 84070 lifevantage.com
corporate office 801.432.9000 distributor support 866.460.7241
April 4, 2014
Q. Is Lazyman correct when he says LifeVantage rigged the data in the Protandim human clinical trial?
A. This statement is deliberately false and has absolutely no foundation. LifeVantage’s study is peer-‐reviewed and has been published. The Institutional Review Board at the University of Colorado approved the testing of Protandim on humans and oversaw the process. The human trials indicated that Protandim is effective at reducing oxidative stress by an average of 40%. The results of this study are included under the Studies section of the LifeVantage Website: http://www.lifevantage.com/science/. Specifically, the study was published as “The Induction of Human Superoxide Dismutase and Catalase in Vivo: A fundamentally new approach to antioxidant therapy in the journal,” Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
Q. Lazyman accuses LifeVantage Distributors of spreading lies, by saying that the American Heart
Association (AHA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have supplied funding for research on Protandim. Is this a rumor or is this a fact?
A. Once again, Lazyman’s statement is provably false and has no foundation. The applicable study was detailed in an article; “Chronic pulmonary artery pressure elevation is insufficient to explain right heart failure,” published in the American Heart Association journal. The article indicates that the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the America Heart Association (AHA) were involved in funding that particular study. The full study is: Bogaard HJ, Natarajan R, Henderson SC, Long CS, Kraskauskas D, Smithson L, Ockaili R, McCord JM, Voelkel NF , 2009. Chronic pulmonary artery pressure elevation is insufficient to explain right heart failure. Circulation 120(20):1951-‐60. Furthermore, an AHA-‐funded study involving Protandim was performed at The Ohio State University in 2006. The resultant article, “Protandim attenuates intimal hyperplasia in human saphenous veins cultured ex vio via a catalase-‐dependent pathway” may be accessed under the Studies section of the LifeVantage Website: http://www.lifevantage.com/science/.
Q. Lazyman alleges that the only reason that studies involving Protandim have been published is that Dr. McCord has connections within the academic journal community. Is this why the studies were published?
A. It is certainly the case that Dr. McCord, as is the case with any well respected scientist in his or her field, has multiple connections in the scientific community and was able to access research institutions that ordinary people may not have so easily accessed. However, to suggest that the studies of Protandim are somehow compromised because of those connections is patently false and shows a fundamental misunderstanding and ignorance by McFarland. If true, McFarland’s claim would undermine all of academia. When an academic paper is submitted for publication, academic peers in the area of study anonymously review and critique the paper to determine whether it can be published. The papers are reviewed anonymously to ensure that the identity of the submitter does not unduly influence the process. Additionally, the reviewers verify that the test results and any conclusions conform to scientific methods and are reliable. Such was the case with each peer reviewed study performed on Protandim.
9785 South Monroe Street, Suite 300, Sandy, UT 84070 lifevantage.com
corporate office 801.432.9000 distributor support 866.460.7241
April 4, 2014
Q: Lazyman accuses LifeVantage of directing its distributors to ignore FTC warnings on MLMs.
A. LifeVantage has never directed distributors to ignore FTC warnings. LifeVantage uses its best efforts to be fully compliant with all laws and is particularly cognizant of FTC and FDA regulations. As any person can discover by reviewing LifeVantage’s website, LifeVantage has a robust set of policies and procedures that each distributor agrees to abide by each year. In addition to those policies, LifeVantage’s Compliance department actively trains distributors regarding FTC and FDA regulations and how to comply with them. Finally, LifeVantage actively enforces its policies and procedures and takes decisive action against any distributor who is discovered to have violated such policies.
Q. Lazyman implies that LifeVantage was out of compliance with Securities and Exchange
Commission regulations because it did not file an 8-‐K when Dr. Darlene Walley left the company. Should LifeVantage have filed an 8-‐K?
A. Item 5.02, Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of
Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers, of the 8-‐K requires companies to file an 8-‐K if the CEO, CFO or any other named executive officer leaves a company for any reason. Dr. Walley was not a named executive officer, therefore LifeVantage was not required to file an 8-‐K.
Q. Lazyman asserts that Protandim is a horrible value as you could buy individual ingredients for
less than the patented, five ingredient blend. A. While it is certainly true that one could buy and consume each of the ingredients in Protandim,
they would not have the same exponential effect as if Protandim was consumed. It is the unique blend of Protandim that synergistically works to lower your oxidative stress and combat free radicals. This synergistic effect was the reason Protandim was originally granted a patent from the Patent and Trademark Office. This effect was further demonstrated in the following study: Velmurugan, K., Alam, J., McCord, J. M., and Pugazhenthi, S., 2009. Synergistic induction of heme oxygenase-‐1 by the components of the antioxidant supplement Protandim. Free Radic Biol Med 46, 430-‐40. For more information about our studies, go to: http://www.lifevantage.com/science/
Q. Lazyman claims that LifeVantage illegally obtained patents on Protandim and that this is demonstrated by the fact that Dr. McCord is not listed on the patent.
A. The patent application for Protandim was submitted by Paul Myhill in 2004. This application
was initially denied by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) in 2006 due to the need for further supporting evidence. Shortly thereafter, Dr. McCord validated the mutually synergistic effect of Protandim. Dr. McCord described the new data in a Declaration to the USPTO and was granted a meeting to present his findings. That meeting resulted in the patent denial being reversed and the patent was issued in 2007. Dr. McCord was not required to be listed on the patent but was extremely instrumental in achieving its final approval.
