Internet marketer David M. Rothbart, who does business as Medimax Inc., was temporarily blocked Tuesday from marketing and selling home HIV-testing kits on its Web site after the Federal Trade Commission sued him for misrepresentation.
U.S. District Judge R. Sharp also froze Rothbart’s assets and those of his Orlando, FL-based company pending the outcome of the FTC’s lawsuit to permanently stop him from selling the home-testing kits and refund those who purchased them.
The FTC’s lawsuit alleges that Rothbart and his firm falsely advertised that the home HIV testing kits were capable of accurately determining if a person was infected with the virus within 15 minutes.
The FTC further alleged that the kits were not approved for sale in the U.S. and that nine out of 10 of them “provided false negative results” when used to test a known HIV-positive blood sample.
Rothbart could not be reached for comment. Medimax is the second company to be sued for misrepresenting the accuracy of home HIV testing kits. Cyberlinx Marketing Inc., Las Vegas, resolved an FTC lawsuit by voluntarily agreeing to stop marketing the kits and refund those who purchased them.
