The Associated Press reports about a settlement involving a dangerous device:
A pair of retail giants on Tuesday settled consumer protection prosecutions for allegedly selling a muscle stimulator that promised six-pack abs, prosecutors said.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. of Bentonville, Ark., will pay $525,000 and Walgreen Co., of Deerfield, Ill., will pay $125,000 to settle the cases brought by Napa, Solano and San Diego prosecutors. The merchants were accused of selling misbranded and unapproved medical devices.
The AbEnergizer abdominal muscle stimulator, which sends electric currents into a user’s body, claimed that consumers could “push a button and get 700 sit-ups with no pain, no work and no exercise,” said Dani Jo Handell, a Solano County deputy district attorney.
“This was a medical device that needed a prescription to be bought and sold,” Handell said. “But even if you had a physician’s permission it wouldn’t make you lose weight or get six pack abs.”
Handell said prosecutors received numerous complaints that the product didn’t work or caused burns. She said some even complained that the stimulator caused hernias or aggravated hernias that were surgically repaired.