Anna Nicole Smith Is Dead; Trimspa Goes Into Crisis Mode

Anna Nicole Smith is dead. So what?, I hear you pharma people ask. First, it's a double blow for Trimspa, which uses the late model in its ads for the drug-like-but-not-actually-a-drug weight loss product. Trimspa in January agreed to pay $1.5 million to the FTC for making unsupported ad claims. Now it will have to cancel all its ads with the dead star. And if it turns out that her system was filled with “Hoodia gordonii” at the time of her death then the firestorm will be even bigger. Yet another reason for Big Pharma to pause before continuing on its march into the mostly unregulated diet supplement business.