Internet Viagra sales cited in suit against LV couple

Grace Leong

Monday, July 10, 2000 | 11:12 a.m.

The Federal Trade Commission sued a Las Vegas couple in what the agency calls a deceptive sales program that managed to combine three phenomenon of the late 20th century -- Viagra, the Internet and the Y2K scare.

The FTC said in its lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas that the couple, Sandra and Philip Rennert, ran several Internet websites that sold Viagra and other drugs -- even though they're not licensed to dispense prescription drugs.

The government lawsuit said the Rennerts also tried to fraudulently bill their customers a one-time $50 fee for "Y2K remediation services."

The Rennerts, the FTC said, told 11,000 of their customers in June 1999 that in order to comply with their merchant card providers, they had contracted with a company called Impact Technologies Inc. to bring their site into Y2K compliance.

"A one-time charge of $50 will be billed directly to your credit card," said a Rennert e-mail to their customers, according to the FTC lawsuit.

The FTC alleged the Rennerts had no authority to charge customers' debit and credit cards for Y2K remediation services without obtaining prior authorization and further alleged the Rennerts did not own or operate computer equipment that required extensive Y2K remediation services.

The FTC suit said the Rennerts own International Outsourcing Group Inc., Focus Medical Group, Trimline Inc. and Affordable Accents Inc., all in Las Vegas. It said they also own World Wide RX Inc., A.S.A.P. Inc and World Wide Medicine Inc. of Cheyenne, Wyo.; and PSRenn Inc. of Henderson.

Also sued was Lyle Mortenson, whom the FTC said is the accountant for the Rennert companies.

The lawsuit said the defendants violated Nevada law by falsely advertising on their websites that consumers would be offered secure online consultations by full-service medical clinics with physicians and an on-site pharmacy.

The FTC said the Rennert companies charged consumers $75 for these purported "consultations."

The FTC said the Rennerts' companies were not served by a medical clinic with physicians and an on-site pharmacy.

The FTC said it found the Rennerts pay one out-of-state physician to review its customers' medical questionnaires and approve or deny their prescription requests. The physician is paid $10 for each of the first 50 questionnaires he reviews per week and $7.50 for each additional questionnaire he reviews after that.

The FTC lawsuit asks the court to appoint a receiver to supervise the Rennert companies and an order freezing the Rennerts' assets. It seeks injunctions to allow the agency to prevent further alleged injuries to consumers.

Philip Rennert said he was surprised at the government lawsuit since he and his wife agreed to a settlement with the FTC in April.

He said this agreement was "an outline in an area that is uncharted."

"Telemedicine is very complex and the rules are being defined as the issues are encountered," Rennert said. "We signed a consent order with the FTC on how to do Internet prescriptions. It doesn't say (we) can't do business on the Internet but simply states 'unless" (we) do the following."'

The FTC said the settlement, signed in April, was sent to the five-member FTC board of commissioners for a vote. Results of the vote are expected to be released later this week.

Contacted by the Sun, an agency spokeswoman said the lawsuit filed last week in Las Vegas will assist the agency should it have to enforce the April settlement, as a violation of the settlement could be considered contempt of court and could result in criminal charges against the defendants.

In their settlement with the FTC, the defendants agreed not to advertise or sell prescription drugs on the Internet unless they disclose the identity of the issuing pharmacy and the physician, who must be a licensed practitioner.

The defendants also agreed to provide a contact telephone number and address for the entity offering the drugs, the states from which the entity will accept orders for the drugs and an acknowledgement that dispensing the drugs without a valid prescription is a violation of federal law.

The defendants are believed to have attracted up to 11,000 visitors on their websites including www.focusmedical.com, www.focus-medical.com, www.doctors2000.com, www.doctorsasap.com and www.worldwidemedicine.com and through a toll-free number (800) 952-6211.