Jilliann Micheals Sued Because of Weight Loss Supplement

Biggest Loser Trainer Jillian Michaels Sued over Weight Loss Supplement


Joe Cannon, MS

www.Joe-Cannon.com

As you may remember, I recently reviewed one of several weight loss and appetite control supplements being advertised by Jillian Michaels, one of the trainers on the TV show, The Biggest Loser.


Now I have an update to that blog. Jillian Michaels is being sued for about $5 million by a woman in California who purchased a product called Jillian Michaels Maximum Strength Calorie Control. The woman claims that the product did not reduce her appetite or help her lose weight as it was advertised to.


I am not surprised by the lawsuit because I never thought any of the products would work. Jillian Michaels was chosen to be the spokesperson for this line of supplements, because of her role on The Biggest Loser. People see her kicking butt on TV and she’s attractive so people automatically will assume that she has some secret to weight loss. Beautiful people are also often deemed smarter than the rest of us.


NBC, which produces The Biggest Loser, sells various items on their website. The supplements endorsed by Miss Michaels are not listed although other products with her image are.

Interestingly, NBC does list a Biggest Loser Protein Powder although a woman other than Miss Michaels (I believe one of the former winners of the Biggest Loser) is on the label. In light of this lawsuit, NBC may want to rethink advertising protein powder.


The idea of Miss Michaels touting weight loss supplements on TV gets to a bigger issue that personal trainers should be aware of. All good self-employed personal trainers have liability insurance to protect them from unforeseen accidents which might occur during fitness sessions.


Most trainers don’t know that their liability insurance policies will probably not cover them against lawsuits arising from the recommendation or endorsements of dietary supplements. This makes sense because supplements do not exercise. Most fitness trainers have at the very least only a rudimentary idea about how supplements work and less of an idea about which supplements don’t work.



Fitness trainers should remember this because dietary supplement companies has been targeting them for years because the industry wants them to sell their products. This is why Miss Michaels was employed to endorse these supplements.



Does Miss Michaels have personal trainer liability insurance? If anybody any insights on this, I’d like to know who is insuring her and whether that policy covers dietary supplement endorsements. I am sure she is covered by various NBC policies because of her role on The Biggest Loser.



As for the lawsuit, I am saddened that an American citizen with access to libraries and the internet could not have discovered for herself how useless - and un-different from the rest of the pack - these products would be. A quick web search would have turned up my blog review of Jillian’s Maximum Fat Burner supplement. 



The sad thing is that people assume that personal trainers know about supplements. This lawsuit is just one example of how that assumption isn’t always true.



Go to SupplementClarity.com to see other supplement reviews