Lawsuit Disputes Claims Of Popular Memory Loss Supplement

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A new lawsuit by two government agencies accuses a company of misleading its customers with claims that its popular dietary supplement helps improve memory.

Ads for Prevagen claim the supplement improves cognitive skills, CBS2's Anna Werner reported.

"Prevagen is clinically shown to improve memory," one ad states. "The breakthrough in Prevagen helps your brain, allowing you to stay as sharp as possible."

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says the company that makes Prevagen, Quincy Bioscience, can't back up the claims.

"There are some really extravagant claims made," he said. "It's really a very straight-forward fraud in advertising claim."

Schneiderman believes that aggressive marketing targets senior citizens.

"They were making a lot of money off of it, so we're seeking to get relief for the seniors who are scammed," Schneiderman said.

A bottle of Prevagen can cost as much as $69 dollars. According to the government, from 2007 to 2015, Americans bought $165 million worth.

The joint complaint by the Schneiderman and the Federal Trade Commission says the company's own clinical study "... failed to show a statistically significant improvement in the treatment group over the placebo group..."

Quincy Bioscience calls the allegations in the suit "unfounded and inaccurate."

"...Hundreds of thousands of people tell us it works and improves their lives," the company said in a statement. "Quincy has amassed a large body of evidence that Prevagen improves memory and supports healthy brain function."

Back in 2012, the FDA sent Quincy Bioscience a warning letter about the supplement's make-up and marketing.

CBS2 also learned the FDA conducted inspections at two locations belonging to Quincy's parent company just this past October and November.

The agency declined to comment further because, as it said "the matter remains open."