Federal Trade Commission et al v. Quincy Bioscience Holding Company, Inc. et al

Filing 493

ORDER: Therefore, the jury's factual findings regarding the eight Challenged Statements, which are supported by the record at trial, are binding on this Court's determination of the Quincy defendants' liability under Sections 5 and 1 2 of the FTC Act. Applying the jury's factual determinations, which are determinative of the Quincy defendants' liability under Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act, the Court finds that the Quincy defendants acted as a common enterprise and ar e liable for the statements "Prevagen reduces memory problems associated with aging" and "Prevagen is clinically shown to reduce memory problems associated with aging" under the FTC Act Sections 5 and 12. So Ordered. (Signed by Judge Louis L. Stanton on 8/29/2024) (sgz)

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I DOCUMENT
. ELECTRONICALLY FILED

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

1-0C#:

j DATE FILED:

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION and
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW
YORK , by LETITIA JAMES , Attorney
General of the State of New York ,
Plaintiffs ,

17 Civ . 124

II

Z 2't LL\.

(LLS )

ORDER

- against QUINCY BIOSCIENCE HOLDING
COMPANY , INC ., a corporation ;
QUINCY BIOSCIENCE , LLC , a limited
liability company ;
PREVAGEN , INC ., a corporation
d/b/a/ SUGAR RIVER SUPPLEMENTS ;
QUINCY BIOSCIENCE
MANUFACTURING , LLC, a limited
liability company ; and
MARK UNDERWOOD , individually and as
an officer of QUINCY BIOSCIENCE
HOLDING COMPANY , INC. , QUINCY
BIOSCIENCE , LLC , AND PRE VAGEN , INC .,
Defendants .
Presently before the Court is the scope of the Quincy
Bioscience Holding Company , Inc ., Quincy Bioscience , LLC ,
Prevagen , Inc. doing business as Sugar River Supplements, and
Quincy Bioscience Manufacturing , LLC (the " Quincy defendants " ) '
liability under Section 5 and 12 of the Federal Trade Commission
Act (the " FTC Act " ) .

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The jury in this case evaluated eight statements made by
the Quincy defendants (the "Challenged Statements " ) . The jury
found the Quincy defendants liable for two of those Challenged
Statements under the New York General Business Law Sections 349
and 350 . Jury Verdict form (0kt . No . 421). Those statements are :
" Prevagen reduces memory problems associated with aging " and
" Prevagen is clinically shown to reduce memory problems
associated with aging ." Id .
To reach that conclusion , the jury answered four questions
about each of the challenged statements :

(1) whether the

Challenged Statements were conveyed (2) whether the Challenged
Statements lacked support by competent and reliable scientific
evidence ,

(3) whether the Challenged Statements were materially

misleading , and (4) whether the Challenged Statements were
consumer oriented . The jury answered each of those questions in
the affirmative for the statements that "Prevagen reduces memory
problems associated with aging" and "Prevagen is clinically
shown to reduce memory problems associated with aging " and
therefore found the Quincy defendants liable under the New York
General Business Law Sections 349 and 350 for those two
statements . Id .
This Court is bound to follow the jury ' s findings of fact
when determining the Quincy defendants '

liability under the FTC

Act because New York General Business Law Sections 349 and 350
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are modeled upon Sections 5 and 12 of the FTC Act and the
statutes share essentially the same legal elements . Song v . Ives
Lab ' ys , Inc., 957 F . 2d 1041, 1048 (2d Cir . 1992)

("It is clear

that a judge sitting at equity may not render a verdict which is
inconsistent with that of a jury sitting at law on a claim
involving the same essential elements ." )

(internal citations

omitted) (alteration in the original) ; see also e.g ., Oswego
Laborers ' Loe . 214 Pension Fund v. Marine Midland Bank , N. A., 85
N. Y. 2d 20 , 26 (1995)

(noting that the New York General Business

Law statutes are modeled on the FTC Act) , Bildstein v .
MasterCard Int'l Inc. , 329 F . Supp . 2d 410 , 414

(S.D.N.Y. 2004)

(collecting cases) . Therefore , the jury ' s factual findings
regarding the eight Challenged Statements , which are supported
by the record at trial , are binding on this Court's
determination of the Quincy defendants '

liability under Sections

5 and 12 of the FTC Act .
Applying the jury ' s factual determinations , which are
determinative of the Quincy defendants '

liability under Sections

5 and 12 of the FTC Act , the Court finds that the Quincy
defendants acted as a common enterprise and are liable for the
statements "Prevagen reduces memory problems associated with
aging " and "Prevagen is clinically shown to reduce memory
problems associated with aging" under the FTC Act Sections 5 and
12.
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So ordered .
Dated :

New York , New York
August ·~
2024
I

LOUIS L . STANTON
U. S.D . J .

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