Millstadt woman claims diet drugs caused her to suffer stroke; Suit blames Supplement Superstore and pharma

 

A Millstadt woman filed a lawsuit against a Shiloh supplement store and the

manufacturer of two diet drugs she claims caused her to have a stroke.

Catherine Bauer filed a lawsuit July 26 in St. Clair County Circuit Court against First Phorm International LLC, Supplement Superstore, Jordan Pea and Buff Enterprises LLC.

Bauer is described in the complaint as a 36-year-old woman who is "generally healthy with no history of stroke or cardiovascular problems." She says she visited Supplement Superstore in Shiloh in July 2011 to buy weight-loss pills she had previously taken without trouble.

While in the store, Bauer says manager Pea told her about two products, 1-Db Goddess and Thyro-Drive, manufactured by First Phorm International. Pea allegedly claimed the supplements, taken together, were the "best weight-loss pills on the market."

Bauer says the manager failed to discuss safety, warn of potential side effects or tell the customer how to take the supplements. Bauer says she left the store with a free sample of the pills that Pea had given her in a clear plastic bag. She says Pea instructed her to take the medication with water and a meal.

Bauer says she took the pills the following day with food and water. The next morning, the woman woke up "with extreme weakness on the left side of her body and slurred speech," the complaint reads. Bauer was later diagnosed as having a stroke.

Bauer claims the manufacturers of the two diet drugs along with the health store and its manager are responsible for her medical condition. She is suing the defendants on counts of strict products liability, breach of implied warranty, negligence, breach of express warrant, misrepresentation by omission, fraud and misrepresentation along with a violation of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act.

Bauer is asking to be awarded compensatory damages of more than $300,000 for disability, permanent injuries, pain and suffering.

Attorneys Michael Gras, Christopher Cueto and Lloyd M. Cueto, of Belleville, represent Bauer.

St. Clair County Circuit Court Case No. 13-L-390