Donald Barrett
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Donald Barrett is the founder and president of ITV Direct, an infomercial company producing infomercials for broadcast in the United States. Almost all are related to health and nutrition, or in the company's words, "products that positively impact people".[1] In September 2006, he teamed up with Kevin Trudeau and produced infomercials to promote two of Trudeau's health related books.[2] He has also promoted Lorraine Day, and other alternative medical practitioners.[citation needed] Recently he founded ITV Ventures, an affiliate company which offers the pubic network marketing opportunities connected to its infomercial business. [3]
[edit] History
According to ITV Direct's website, Donald Barrett is presently 31 years old and was working as a pizza chef and an independent nutritional distributor six short years ago.[1]
[edit] Controversy
On April 19, 2004, Donald Barrett in his capacity as President of ITV Direct, Inc./Direct Marketing Concepts, Inc. received a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration notifying him that the product Supreme Greens was a being marketed as an unlicensed drug with false or misleading claims. The letter requested that ITV Direct correct the deceptive practices.[4]
In June 2004, the FTC filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts alleging that Direct Marketing Concepts, Inc., ITV Direct, Inc., and their president, Donald W. Barrett had deceptively marketed Supreme Greens and Coral Calcium Daily by claiming that it could prevent, treat, and cure cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and diabetes. They also claimed it caused substantial weight loss, and was safe for use by pregnant women, children – including those as young as one year old, and persons taking any form of medication.[5] In July 2004, ITV Direct was enjoined from marketing Supreme Greens.[6]
In October 5, 2007, the FTC sued ITV Direct, Inc. and Donald Barrett for misrepresenting Kevin Trudeau's "Weight-Loss Cure" book in the infomercial they produced to market it.[7] In response to the FTC's suit, ITV Direct sued the FTC for alleged harassment and violation of free speech rights.[8] Subsequently, on November 19, 2007, in a separate FTC action, Trudeau was found in contempt of a 2004 court order for making "patently false" claims in the weight loss book.[9][10][11]
