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FALSE
ADVERTISING LAWSUIT AGAINST NURSING HOME SUPPLIER JT POSEY COMPANY SETTLED
Boston, Oct 6, 2004 – Since 1995, HipSaver
(www.hipsaver.com), a company based in Canton, Massachusetts, has manufactured
and distributed innovative soft hip protector garments that offer significant
and documented protection from hip fractures in a fall, particularly for the
frail elderly population. In the fall of 2003, JT Posey Company of Arcadia,
California began an intensive advertising campaign aimed at HipSaver. Posey
claimed superior performance for its competing product based on comparative
testing results at UCLA. Pursuant to a settlement in U.S. District Court in
Boston, Posey has now withdrawn its advertising and its claims of superiority.
Posey has also acknowledged its regret about having made confusing advertising
comparisons directed at HipSaver.
In challenging the comparative research cited in Posey’s white paper
and advertising, HipSaver retained Wilson C. Hayes, Ph.D., a renowned biomechanical
engineering expert, who determined that the research and testing were not
reliable and could not sustain any of Posey’s comparative claims. Posey’s
corrective statement, available from its home page www.posey.com and in forthcoming
catalogs, concedes that a graduate student, not UCLA as they had claimed,
performed the tests and notes Dr. Hayes’ findings that the student’s
research methodology was flawed and its conclusions invalid.
"This was clearly a David versus Goliath situation, with HipSaver under
attack by a company more than 25 times larger," says Ed Goodwin, president
of HipSaver. "But we worked too hard on inventing, improving and obtaining
legitimate clinical validation of our hip protection products to allow false
advertising claims to go unchallenged. The withdrawal of Posey’s advertising
and their corrective statement are a victory for consumers and simple truth
in advertising."
HipSaver soft hip protectors are used in more than 5,000 veterans’ hospitals,
nursing homes, hospitals and elder communities; and their ability to prevent
devastating hip injuries has been documented in third-party research studies
published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association and
in Advance for Physical Therapists. Further information on these studies or
on HipSaver hip protectors is available at www.hipsaver.com or by calling
1-800-358-4477.
Special
Announcement:
HipSaver® and Posey Hipster® brand Hip Protectors
In the fall of 2003, Posey began distributing an article (also known as the
“White Paper”)
entitled “A Solution to Hip Fractures Using Performance Tested Hip Protectors.”
In its catalogs and newsletters Posey included statements derived from the
White Paper and bar charts comparing the relative effectiveness of Posey’s
Hipsters.
The White Paper was written by a UCLA graduate student working on his Master’s
Thesis. UCLA did not sponsor, authorize, or endorse the tests or the results
reported in the White paper or the Master’s Thesis.
The HipSaver Company, Inc. challenged the accuracy of the White Paper and
the statements and bar charts in Posey’s catalogs and newsletters. HipSaver’s
claims included: (a) a flawed testing methodology used by the graduate student;
(b) testing of some products which were no longer offered in the marketplace;
and (c) test conclusions which were subject to unreliable or false interpretation.
The HipSaver Company retained Wilson C. Hayes, PhD, a recognized biomechanical
engineering expert, to review the White Paper, the graduate student's thesis,
and Posey’s advertising. Dr. Hayes determined that the research is not
reliable and cannot sustain any of the claims in the White Paper and our advertising
with reasonable certainty.
Posey values its hard-earned reputation and does not advocate the use of any
material that may be inaccurate or out of date, and expressly regrets comparisons
with HipSaver products and confusion this may have caused in the marketplace.
Posey has eliminated the bar charts and all statements based on the White
Paper from its catalogs.
If by chance you have a copy of the White Paper or any advertising material
referring to testing at UCLA, please do not use it or rely on any statements
in it.