MAY 6, 2022. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California granted Plaintiff’s motion for leave to file a third amended complaint last week that allows him to add fifteen new defendants, several new products, and claims regarding violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (18 U.S.C. § 1962(a), (c), (d)), among other things, to the case.
The Court decided to allow amendment after depositions taken in the case revealed that the purported manufacturer named on SeroVital’s label, SanMedica International, LLC, is “part of a web of affiliated entities and individuals operating a single enterprise (referred to by plaintiff as the “Basic Research Enterprise”) with a unified aim to manufacture, market, and sell the same product under different brand names based on the same purportedly faulty science and false representations.”
Individuals Bodee Gay, Gina Daines, Haley Blackett, Kim Humphries, and Friedlander are among the new defendants that the Court is allowing Plaintiff to add to his suit after Daines “testified that the alleged Basic Research Enterprise is closely held by family members, including Daines, and her siblings Bodee Gay, Haley Blackett, and Kimm Humphries, who acquired ownership in companies ‘affiliated with Basic Research’ after their father passed away in 2018.” The Court went on to explain that Daines also testified that Friedlander, “was involved in the SeroVital’s marketing, and that he too holds an ownership interest in the alleged Basic Research Enterprise.”
In depositions, Plaintiff also learned of three other products—GF-9, Thrive, and SeroDyne—that used the same science, substantiation, formulation, and core marketing claim as SeroVital, but were merely branded with different names. The Court also granted leave to add these products to the lawsuit.
Plaintiff is represented by Annick M. Persinger at Tycko & Zavareei LLP, and Katherine Bruce at Clarkson Law Firm, P.C.
“We are pleased with the Court’s thorough written decision allowing us to add the defendants responsible for the fraudulent sale of SeroVital and its identical products branded under different names,” said Ms. Persinger.
Ms. Bruce added, “We hope that this ruling is the first step in pulling back the curtain on Basic Research, which currently hides behind its affiliates to avoid liability for the fake products they sell.”
Plaintiff will file a Third Amended Complaint later this month.
The case is Raul Pizana v. SanMedica International LLC et al., case number 1:18-cv-00644-DAD-SKO, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California.