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The first wrongful death lawsuit against the makers of the popular weight loss supplement Hydroxycut is headed to trial.

The case is expected to be one of many brought by users of the drug – following a warning from the Food and Drug Administration and subsequent recall on May 1 – after a study linked it to liver problems.

More than nine million people nationwide use Hydroxycut products for weight loss or as an energy supplement.

Ron Rodriguez of the Law Offices of Ron Rodriguez, PC in Laredo, Texas, filed suit in November 2008 on behalf of the parents of Dennis Lopez.

Lopez began taking MuscleTech Hydroxycut Hardcore in November 2006. Within two months, he was hospitalized due to severe fatigue. He died of severe liver failure on Feb. 12, 2007.

“The autopsy report clearly showed that the causitive factor in his death was the dietary supplement,” said Rodriguez, who is seeking to certify the first class action in the U.S. against the manufacturer of Hydroxycut, Iovate Health Sciences, based in Blasdell, N.Y. and Ontario, Canada.

Since the FDA issued its warning, Iovate has pulled about 50 Hydroxycut products from store shelves.

The FDA urged consumers to cease using Hydroxycut after it received reports from nearly 30 users complaining of severe liver problems such as jaundice and liver damage. There have also been isolated complaints throughout the U.S. and Canada linking the supplement to heart problems and elevated blood pressure, although the FDA did not specifically note those ailments in its warning.

Three days after the initial recall, a class action was filed in Canada alleging that Iovate did not properly warn consumers about the drug’s safety. The firm that initiated the class action, Juroviesky and Ricci LLP of Toronto, continues to advertise for potential clients on its website, http://www.hydroxycutclassaction.ca/

Personal injury attorneys throughout the U.S. are also using the Internet to advertise for potential plaintiffs.

Jeff Doyle of Williams Kherkher in Houston said his firm has received more than 30 specific calls about liver problems allegedly caused by Hydroxycut, as well as hundreds more who just had general inquiries.

Doyle said the complaints typically come from people in their 30s. One call came from a Pentacostal minister in his mid-30s who was told by his doctor that he had the liver of a 60-year-old alcoholic.

Based on the flurry of activity his firm has seen so far, Doyle predicts that there are more claims to follow.

“Right now, we are more interested in individual cases, not class actions. But epidemiolgists and biostatisticans will tell you only about 10 percent of people who have problems call in,” said Doyle. “So far, we alone have seen 20 to 30 reports, so there’s at least ten times as many cases out there haven’t been reported.”

Questions or comments can be directed to the writer at: justin.rebello@lawyersusaonline.com

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