Mannatech legal threats, I’m not alone!
I decided to do a little research online regarding my (so far), two cease and desist orders originating from Mannatech’s legal department and guess what, they sent the same identical letter to others as well! Each time, to people who disprove or question the validity for their sales people’s claims that their products cure diseases and illness. Same situation, the blogger writes that their products are essentially a scam, a Mannatech representative says the opposite and voila, Mannatech’s legal department springs into action against, no, not the Mannatech representative telling their lies but the person who put into question their products. I am seeing a pattern here.
Background story regarding my joy of Mannatech here:
- Mannatech cease and desist… again!
- Mannatech sends me a cease and desist
- Mannatech: Overpriced Sugar Pills
- Mannatech Strikes again with Holy Water!
- Herbal Remedies’ aren’t without risks
First question, am I legally liable for comments posted on my blog?
Technically you are not liable for blog comments/forum posts on your site posted by others. You are responsible and liable for comments that you make, but it is very difficult to prosecute or pursue, primarily because of jurisdiction. The Internet is global and there is not one single governing force. Not only is the location of the blogger/poster a factor but the location of the web host and the laws that govern their locations are a factor.
Source: http://businesscommunicationblog.com/newsletters/?p=43981
Makes sense… I agree 
Mannatech is barking-up the wrong tree, their threats are as empty as their distributor’s promises.
Where Mannatech learned about Cease and Desist letters…
http://www.rickross.com/reference/mannatech/mannatech49.html
Now I know where the idea for Cease and Desist Orders comes from… the SEC! It seems that the seeds they have sowed all these years are finally starting to sprout weeds!
Mannatech’s SEC problems are on top of a complaint filed by the Texas attorney general’s office last year. In July 2007, the attorney general filed a lawsuit accusing Mannatech of exaggerating the therapeutic benefits of its products for people with cancer, Down syndrome, cystic fibrosis and other serious conditions. That suit is pending in Travis County District Court. Mannatech CEO Wayne Badovinus acknowledged last quarter that dealing with the attorney general’s complaint, as well as related shareholder lawsuits, was taking a financial toll on the company.
This is starting to make sense, they are covering their ass as much as possible with these legal orders as they face an increasing amount of lawsuits based on the practices of their distribution channel.
Deja vue?
Here is a great link to somebody who had exactly the same situation happen to them! Mannatech lawyers go after him instead of commentators working for Mannatech and accuse him of something he never did! I sent his response to Mannatech as well, it’s fantastic! Peter’s response is a very good read – well worth it!
I thought I had made this clear last year when I received a similar complaint from you. I do wish that you would actually take the time to read the page you are complaining about, but just in case you can’t do that I will reiterate what I said last time (and which appears on that page).
At no place on my site do I state, suggest or imply that Mannatech nutritional products prevent, treat or cure disease, or state, suggest or imply that Mannatech nutritional products are a substitute for a doctor’s standard of care. I would not do either of these things because I do not believe that such statements would be true. I do not care what Mannatech’s policies are with regard to such statements because I am not a Mannatech distributor.
Before you write to me again with complaints about things I do not do please try to read my clearly expressed opinions about Mannatech. You only make yourself look foolish by displaying a total lack of comprehension.
Again, I would like to thank you for implicitly informing me that Mannatech products have no role in the prevention, treatment or cure of any disease and that they do not provide an alternative to professional medical care. I will cite this to Mannatech distributors who contact me with anecdotes suggesting otherwise.
As is my usual policy, your email and this reply will be published on my web site.
I have a wish
I wish that Mannatech would spend a few million dollars and perform a clinical, double-blind study relating the the effectiveness of their products… so far, they have a legal department that is unable to comprehend their mother tongue and sales people who must believe their own lies in order to sustain their financial health. I see nothing positive nor progressive coming out of Mannatech. Please perform this completely unbiased study so you can implode.
Here is a fantastic article by ABCNews, Cure for Your Disease or Empty Promises?
The Bottom Line
You reap what you sow.
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I don’t know what your underlying issues with Mannatech really are (too much hype, ranting and raving in your writings – do you have an ulterior motive; score to settle), but it might interest you to know that the “cease and desist” letters are one of several requirements evolved from the no-fault Settlement with the Texas AG’s office.
You did not receive the “cease and desist” because you wrote something derogatory about Mannatech. Literally hundreds of the letters have been mailed. I received one for posting a letter requesting support of an orphanage (22 children) where all face life-threatening diseases. Simply because my letter included a reference to Mannatech, the post had to be removed.
Under the no-fault Settlement with the TX AG’s Office, no mention of Mannatech or Mannatech’s products can be made alongside (same web page, document, etc.) a named disease, irrespective of the intent or origin of the article/web page, etc. Further, Mannatech is required to show evidence to the AG’s Office that it is pursuing those in breach of the Settlement.
If you are really interested in understanding what is in the Settlement with the Texas AG, you can read it on-line.
Hi Jerry, thanks for your comment but what you consider a rant, I consider the truth till Mannatech proves to me otherwise. I have nothing against Mannatech myself, I am simply tired of people/companies pushing beliefs as if they are facts. Belief is religion, facts is science, there is NO gray area between the two.
I am assuming you are a distributor, hence your requirement to remove the posting. Even in your own comment, you are trying to carefully craft an association of Mannatech with disease (cure) which breaches, by your own words, the settlement they made with the government. Mannatech does not cure ANY diseases (life threatening or not) nor does it have ANYTHING to do with treating children facing life-threatening diseases. If a kid is suffering from illness, they don’t need sugar pills and holy water, they need a doctor, real food and modern medical attention.
Do I need to remove my posts relating to Mannatech as you have done? NO, I am thankfully not associated with this MLM pyramid scheme. They have absolutely no basis to send me any such letter of any kind, any judge can read what I wrote and clearly see that Mannatech was putting words into my mouth by using its distributors network to cause an issue that didn’t exist in the first place.
I just wanted to say that Food can not cure anything. It is illegal to say food can cure. Look up medicine or drugs in the dictionary and it will say something like “substance used to treat, cure, prevent, mitigate, & diagnose disease.” It also says “any substance other than food.”
Mannatech’s products are food so they can’t treat, cure, prevent, mitigate, & diagnose.
However they can provide a higher quality of life. Aside from all that. Isn’t it your immune system that does the healing anyways?
NOW as to your comment that we all need doctors. That is shear ignorance. Doctors are human and practice what has been preached. If you look up doctor in the dictionary is says “one who practices medicine (drugs)”
However if you look up disease in the dictionary it says. ” a disordered or incorrectly functioning organ, part, structure, or system of the body resulting from the effect of genetic or developmental errors, infection, poisons, nutritional deficiency or imbalance, toxicity, or unfavorable environmental factors; illness; sickness; ailment”
So in reading this It seems disease can be a nutritional deficiency. To me that means we need better food. You said it yourself we need science and real food. I totally AGREE! You are RIGHT! Mannatech has that!
Enough with that. Let’s address the Pyramid Scheme. My question to you is this. What is a pyramid scheme?
You don’t know do you. You may be able to repeat what someone else says it is. But do you know what it means? I’m sick and tired of people spouting off crap that they have no clue what it means. Man do the research and form your own opinion. I get tired of people not forming their own opinions and function on other people’s borrowed and limiting beliefs.
I suppose you think the Federal Reserve is Federal. Okay that was way off the subject. But my point is. Many people have been conditioned to believe it is.
I’m wanting to know what you get out of bad mouthing Network Marketing? You buy from companies that have used that model for 50+ years! If you would like to learn about it I’ll suggest a great place to start. I’m not going to leave the link because I don’t believe you want to know. You would rather talk smack!
I’m not here to point fingers. I suggest you look at the facts before you talk smack! And if someones quality of life has been improved like the thousands of people who lives have. What’s the harm? Pharmaceutical companies are the ones who stand to loose the most. GREED! Bayer Drug just got a hand slap for knowingly distributing their drugs tainted with the AIDS Virus.
Are those companies more ethical?
Hi Matty, first, thanks for your comment.
Let me quote you what a real dictionary defines food at (source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/food)
1: material consisting essentially of protein, carbohydrate, and fat used in the body of an organism to sustain growth, repair, and vital processes and to furnish energy ; also : such food together with supplementary substances (as minerals, vitamins, and condiments) b: inorganic substances absorbed by plants in gaseous form or in water solution
2: nutriment in solid form
3: something that nourishes, sustains, or supplies
So, what you are saying is that carbohydrate pills which, to be honest, have less nutritional value than eating grass are able to sustain the human body. If this is true, I have a challenge for you, no, I dare you to ONLY consume Mannatech’s pills and potions for one months time, if what you say is true, you should see no difference in your body’s health nor mental state. Mannatech products are nowhere near food, food is the most anabolic and nutritious thing you can ever eat (you will die if you don’t eat real food btw) and to put Mannatech’s products anywhere near the same quality and prestige demonstrates your incredible lack of knowledge regarding nutrition.
Waking-up in the morning gives me a higher quality of life as well, what’s your point?
Your immune system doesn’t heal a thing, it’s job is to fight-off diseases and other nasty things that can make you sick, damage or kill you. Think of it this way, your immune system is your body’s equivalent to an army that kills off anything that attacks it, including itself in severe circumstances.
Next time you break an arm, get a heart attack or even get swine flu, I dare you to say this to the person trying to save your life. Let’s get a real definition ok. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/doctor) 1 a: an eminent theologian declared a sound expounder of doctrine by the Roman Catholic Church —called also doctor of the church b: a learned or authoritative teacher c: a person who has earned one of the highest academic degrees (as a PhD) conferred by a university d: a person awarded an honorary doctorate (as an LLD or Litt D) by a college or university2 a: a person skilled or specializing in healing arts ; especially : one (as a physician, dentist, or veterinarian) who holds an advanced degree and is licensed to practice b: medicine man3 a: material added (as to food) to produce a desired effect b: a blade (as of metal) for spreading a coating or scraping a surface4: a person who restores, repairs, or fine-tunes things
Please Matty, show me where in all of this where DRUGS are mentioned. A doctor is a healer, nothing more, nothing less, with more knowledge about human anatomy and physiology than you and I combined. If you think a sugar pill or holy water is equivalent to somebody who trains their ENTIRE LIFE in the art of improving somebodies life, you my friend, are delusional.
1. Mannatech is NOT science. It has not proven ANYTHING beyond belief (so far). It’s products have not been clinically tested in a double-blind study, it’s products, by it’s own admission, are no different than a placebo and to be honest, the fact that they are sold by people like you who don’t even know what the basic definition of food, immune system and doctor are. Not looking good Matty.
2. What you are doing is what all the other distributors do as well, in a roundabout way, saying that Mannatech cures or can treat disease. Mannatech is not food by any stretch of the imagination anymore than consuming a teaspoon of white sugar. Sugar = Carbohydrates.
As you are fond of misquoting science and the dictionary, let me refresh your mind. (source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pyramid+scheme) a usually illegal operation in which participants pay to join and profit mainly from payments made by subsequent participants.
Just watch Mannatech’s own corporate videos, how do you make money? By recruiting others to sell your products and building-up your “organization” however you wish to define it. Why are these things considered illegal? Because, theoretically, everybody who takes part in this scheme must get others involved and at the end of the day, the people at the top make the money while the bottom quickly runs out of people. If everybody is selling your product, then the only consumers left is your own sales people.
With all due respect Matty, you can’t even quote a dictionary correctly so I don’t quite understand your rant against me not doing my research, I have given you my sources, where are yours? I agree, people sprouting off crap that have no clue what it means makes me mad too, luckily, I don’t see this person each and every time I look into the mirror. If by “limited beliefs” you mean somebody being unable to prove their points using science and true facts, I completely agree, so, where’s your proof?
To be honest, this depends on what your definition of Federal is and how far you wish to stretch it. You can actually make a point for either case. I don’t understand your point at all though nor what it has to do with Mannatech’s products.
I am not bad mouthing network marketing, I am an entrepreneur myself who has appeared in newspapers, magazines and yes, even been interviewed by television. I had some good friends who participated in network marketing the way you are defining it, the difference is that they understood their products, didn’t use beliefs as facts and filled a real need in people’s lives. Not sure what providing a link would have done to be honest, I am not badmouthing network marketing at all though I have never done it myself.
You’ve been pointing your self-richeous finger at me in your whole comment! I have shown you the facts, now, where are yours? I have never called you ignorant, I have never called you names, just giving you the facts that you either ignored to share with me or were simply unable to use as they did not support your argument.