Which regulatory actions or consumer complaints have been filed against memory‑enhancing supplement companies since 2023?
Executive summary
Since 2023 regulators and plaintiffs have continued to press memory‑enhancing supplement makers through warning letters, court orders, and class actions: notable actions include FDA warning letters to Moor Herbs and Lone Star Botanicals in 2023, a U.S. court order forcing Quincy Bioscience to strip Prevagen’s memory‑improvement claims in late 2024, and ongoing class‑action and consumer investigations into brands such as Neuriva and others [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. Independent testing and watchdog reports have also driven consumer complaints and international advisories, exposing mislabeled ingredients and illegal drug adulterants in some products [6] [7] [8].
1. 2023–2024: a flurry of warning letters and a landmark marketing defeat
Regulatory records show several formal actions since 2023: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued warning letters to Moor Herbs, Inc. (August 1, 2023) and to Lone Star Botanicals, Inc. (November 26, 2023), signaling misbranding or unlawful claims for products promoted for brain health [1] [2]. Those domestic actions were paralleled internationally — the Philippines FDA issued a public health warning in March 2023 against an unregistered “KUYA DODZ” memory enhancer, directing distributors to stop sales until proper registration occurred [8]. The most prominent legal defeat for an industry heavyweight came in late 2024 when courts ordered Quincy Bioscience’s Prevagen to remove explicit “memory improvement” claims from packaging and ads after sustained challenges by watchdogs and state/federal authorities [3] [9].
2. High‑profile company litigation and consumer class claims
Beyond government letters, plaintiffs and consumer advocates have pursued enforcement via the courts: Reckitt’s Neuriva faced a high‑value class action alleging deceptive advertising that yielded a proposed settlement and continued litigation and investigations into whether advertising promised clinical proof it did not have [4] [5]. Prevagen’s multi‑year regulatory scrutiny and the 2024 order reflect the combination of consumer complaints, watchdog litigation, and government interest that can culminate in sweeping marketing remedies [10] [3].
3. Patterns in FDA and FTC enforcement and oversight gaps
A Government Accountability Office review found that regulatory activity targeting memory supplements has historically mirrored actions against other dietary supplements—most FDA actions are warning letters, while the FTC pursues administrative and court actions against deceptive advertising—and underscored coordination but also consumer confusion about which agency to contact (GAO review noting 19 of 551 enforcement actions involved memory supplements) [11]. The GAO and other observers warn that absent clearer roles and better outreach, consumer complaints may not reach the right agency promptly, slowing corrective enforcement [11].
4. Independent testing, adulteration, and labeling failures driving complaints
Testing and investigative reports have repeatedly fed complaints: GAO lab testing found at least one product sold as Ginkgo biloba lacked that ingredient, and other testing programs and journalistic investigations have flagged mislabeled ingredients and safety concerns [6]. Consumer Reports and related testing also identified potentially dangerous unapproved pharmaceutical compounds—such as picamilon and phenibut—in some brain‑boosting supplements, prompting calls for stronger FDA enforcement against tainted products [7].
5. Consumer complaint trends, watchdog roles, and what remains unreported
The post‑2023 record mixes consumer reports to agencies, private lawsuits, and nonprofit advocacy: watchdogs like TINA.org and CSPI backed enforcement against Prevagen and helped generate complaints that fed FTC and court actions, while law firms press class suits for false advertising around products like Neuriva [3] [9] [4]. Public reporting and agency records make clear many complaints allege ineffective products, deceptive “clinically proven” claims, mislabeled ingredients, or adverse events, but available sources do not provide a comprehensive, centralized tally of every consumer complaint filed since 2023—GAO and industry trackers note fragmented reporting and signal that the true number of consumer grievances may be undercounted in public summaries [11] [6].
Conclusion: enforcement is active but fragmented
Since 2023 enforcement against memory‑enhancing supplements has been real and varied—FDA warning letters, international advisories, court‑imposed marketing restraints, class actions, and independent lab reports—but the response remains dispersed across agencies, courts, private plaintiffs, and watchdog groups, leaving gaps in consumer awareness and centralized reporting that GAO explicitly flagged [2] [3] [11] [6]. Available sources document major examples and systemic problems (mislabeling, adulteration, deceptive claims), yet they stop short of a single definitive count of all complaints or actions filed since 2023, reflecting both regulatory complexity and the fragmented nature of the supplement market [11] [7] [6].