In what may be the largest settlement of its kind, a California man who claimed a penis enlargement product did not live up to its hype has won a $6.5 million class-action payout on behalf of more than 420,000 users of the VigRx dietary supplement.

Class members –- namely, anyone who has purchased VigRx since October 2001 -- are entitled to either a $10 cash rebate, a $39.95 e-book “relating to men's sexual and reproductive health” or a six-month subscription to anti-spam software worth $24.95 (presumably to keep those pesky penis-enlargement ads at bay).

The settlement fund includes $4.2 million for the cash rebate, with the remaining $2.3 million to cover attorney's fees and a well-deserved incentive award for Jeffery Horton, whose unhappy experience with VigRx inspired him to file a consumer fraud suit in 2004 against a Canadian company and others involved in the manufacture and sale of the product.

Horton paid $160 for an order of the “natural herbal Viagra alternative” after responding to a spam e-mail. But according to his suit, the claims for the product's effectiveness were false and he did not exactly turn into Ron Jeremy.

“I used the products, but the products had no effect whatsoever," he said in a court declaration.

In May 2005, a federal judge in Colorado found enough merit in the case to grant conditional class certification. While an appeal of that decision was pending, the parties conducted lengthy negotiations with a mediator that culminated in the settlement.

With the settlement, Leading Edge Marketing, the Canadian manufacturer of VigRx, avoids a jury award that would not have been covered by insurance and could have exceeded its total assets.

“Any judgment or settlement would have to be financed from the assets of the Leading Edge Defendants, the Other Defendants being unable to contribute significantly to the settlement without severe hardship and business interruption,” a motion for preliminary approval of the settlement says.

An Ohio judge in November 2006 approved a $4.7 million settlement of three class actions (see table) filed against Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, which markets the Enzyte “natural male enhancement” product.

Not surprisingly, Horton and the plaintiffs in the other cases have been subjected to ridicule and harassment. But they might just have succeeded in curbing some of the promotional excesses of the penis enlargement business.

By Matthew Heller
4/8/07