Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical, Inc.

Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical, Inc. is a California-based alternative medicine company charged by the Federal Trade Commission in July 2020 with false advertising of unproven COVID-19 treatments.
History
Golden Sunrise Nutraceutical was founded in 2016 by Huu Tieu. It is the sister company of Golden Sunrise Pharmaceutical, Inc., founded by Tieu in September 2011. The two companies - referred to as the Golden Sunrise Companies in legal documents - shared Tieu as their CEO. In May 2020, an undercover investigator visited Tieu, claiming his elderly mother was sick with COVID-19. Tieu, according a press release of the Department of Justice, sought to dissuade him from taking her to the hospital, and suggested Golden Sunrise preparations instead. By this time, the investigation included the HHS Inspector General, the US Postal Inspection Service, the FDA, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and California Department of Health Care Services.
In late July 2021, the Federal Trade Commission eventually sued Golden Sunrise, as well as its founder Huu Tieu and medical director Dr. Stephen Meis, with violations of the FTC Act in respect of their COVID-19 claims, as well as claims that their products can cure cancer and Parkinson's disease, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California. In the complaint, the FTC alleged, among others, that Golden Sunrise was offering four 'plans of care', including the 'Emergency D-Virus Plan of Care', which was claimed to cure COVID-19.
The court filing also stated a number of other conditions that Golden Sunrise's 'plans of care' claimed to cure or treat included stroke, epilepsy, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, Lyme disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Most products were found to consist of herbs and herbal extracts, despite product names that evoked well-known biopharmaceuticals: the FTC's filing noted, for instance, that AnterFerron-1 - sounding similar to the immunomodulator interferon - consisted of bilberry leaf extract, graviola and goldenseal. The treatment plans were priced between $170,000 and $200,000. According to this order, Dr. Meis would pay restitution of $103,420 to defrauded customers and prohibits him from making false medical claims. The order was signed by the judge, while litigation continues against Tieu and the Golden Sunrise companies. This includes a federal indictment against Tieu for mail fraud and violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.

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