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Jack3d Lawsuit & Lawyer

Jack3d Lawsuit & Lawyer

Jack3d (pronounced “jacked”) is a pre-workout supplement sold by the Dallas-based company USPlabs, which is also responsible for OxyElite Pro. Jack3d contains a drug known as DMAA, which was recently found in the bloodstream of two U.S. Army soldiers who died of heart attacks during physical training. The Department of Defense has since banned the on-base sale of DMAA products, including Jack3d. Many Party Pills also contain DMAA. Though the products remain legal to use and buy, there is growing concern that they may actually have serious, life-threatening side effects.

What You Can Do & How a Jack3d Lawsuit Can Help

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Jack3d induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by Jack3d, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Jack3d Litigation Group or call us toll-free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

UPDATE: Jack3D Class Action Lawsuit Settled for $2 Million

September 24, 2014 — Law360.com reports that USPLabs and GNC have agreed to pay $2 million to settle a class action lawsuit in Florida involving OxyElite Pro and Jack3D. Click here to read more.

September 16, 2014 — USPLabs, LLC has filed a second motion (PDF) to centralize dozens of lawsuits involving OxyElite Pro and Jack3D supplements in a MDL. They were hit with another 12 lawsuits involving 40 new plaintiffs in the last few months. Click here to read more.

April 8, 2014 — Federal judges have decided against centralizing lawsuits and class actions involving OxyElite Pro and Jack3D into a Multi-District Litigation (MDL). Click here to read more.

January 22, 2014 — USPLabs requests the centralization of Jack3D lawsuits in a federal Multi-District Litigation (MDL), consolidating 9 lawsuits and 3 class actions involving 30 plaintiffs. Click here to read more.

July 16, 2013 –– Prosecutors from the Justice Department, on behalf of the FDA, have requested permission to seize 3,200 cases of DMAA products (Jack3D and OxyElite Pro) from warehouses owned by GNC in Pennsylvania and South Carolina. Click here to read more.

June 2, 2013 — The FDA has announced that USPLabs has voluntarily destroyed about $8 million worth Jack3D and OxyElite Pro stored at a facility in Dallas, Texas. Click here to read more.

April 16, 2013 — FDA warns that DMAA is an illegal ingredient in dietary supplements. Click here to read more.

March 13, 2013 — The first-ever DMAA lawsuit has been filed in San Diego on behalf of a 22 year-old soldier who died of a cardiac arrest during routine physical training after using the recommended dosage of Jack3D the morning before his training. Click here to read more.

January 31, 2013 — The DMAA supplement Jack3D has been linked to the death of a woman who died while running the London Marathon in April last year. Click here to read more.

January 23, 2013 — USPLabs has agreed to settle a DMAA class action lawsuit for $2 million. Click here to read more.

April 27, 2012 –USP Labs, LLC, the company that manufactures and distributes Jack3d and OxyElite Pro, has just received a Warning Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA has concluded that “synthetically-produced DMAA is not a ‘dietary ingredient’ and, therefore, is not eligible to be used as an active ingredient in a dietary supplement.” The company is being specifically cited for failing to provide the FDA with a New Dietary Ingredient (NDI) notification. By law, all supplements that contain ingredients introduced after 1994 must provide the FDA with an NDI with evidence of the safety of the ingredient. Because manufacturers have never provided the FDA with this information, supplements containing DMAA are adulterated. Furthermore, the FDA warns that DMAA is known to cause blood vessel constriction, which can elevate blood pressure and increase the risk of deadly heart attacks.

August 2006 — The Washington Post reports that DMAA was first marketed as a supplement by Patrick Arnold, a chemist who served federal prison time for his role in the BALCO / Barry Bonds sports-doping scandal. Click here to read more.

Jack3d Overview

Jack3d is a dietary supplement used by fitness enthusiasts as a pre-workout energy booster and a weight-loss pill. It contains a stimulant drug called DMAA, which has properties similar to amphetamines and ephedrine, but weaker. On the ingredient label for Jack3d, DMAA is listed as “1,3-Dimethylamylamine.”

DMAA may appear on product labels under the following names:

  • DMAA
  • Geranamine, Geranium oil, extract, or any part of the geranium plant
  • 1,3-Dimethylamylamine
  • 1,3-dimethylpentylamine
  • methylhexaneamine (MHA)
  • methylhexanamine
  • methylhexamine
  • 4-methyl-2-hexanamine
  • 2-amino-4-methylhexane

Products containing DMAA include:

  • USPlabs Jack3d (Tropical Fruit and Lemon Lime)
  • USPlabs Oxy Elite Pro
  • Nutrex Lipo 6 Black Caps (his and hers)
  • Nutrex Lipo 6 Black Ultra Concentrated (his and hers)
  • Nutrex Hemo Rage Black Powder (Punch and Berry)
  • Isatori PWR
  • Muscletech Neurocore
  • Muscletech Hydroxyslim
  • Fahrenheit Nutrition Lean EFX
  • Muscle Warfare Napalm
  • All American Efx K-Otic
  • SNI Nitric Blast
  • BIORhythm SSIN Juice
  • Muscle Meds Code Red
  • SEI MethylHex (4 and 2)
  • Grenade (universal) Grenade
  • M.A.P. (iovate) Arson
  • Gaspari Nutrition Spirodex

Jack3d Linked to Deaths

In reality, no one really knows if DMAA is safe or effective, or what doses are lethal. Because it is sold as a “dietary supplement,” the manufacturers avoided submitting safety data to the FDA. Though the manufacturers claim that millions of people have used Jack3d safely, the FDA and the manufactures are not required to keep track of adverse events, so there is no credible data regarding its safety.

However, there is evidence that it can cause death. The U.S. Department of Defense banned on-base sales of DMAA and Jack3d after two soldiers who died of heart attacks during routine physical training were found to have DMAA in their bloodstream. Army officials were concerned over liver and kidney failure, lethal exhaustion, heart attacks, stroke, and other severe, life-threatening side effects. In August 2013, the DOD found risks in DMAA supplement use, but no link to soldier deaths.

DMAA was also found in the bloodstream of a New Zealand man who had taken “party pills” containing DMAA, and suffered a cerebral hemorrhage. It is not clear whether the drug caused the man’s death, but it is a cause for concern.

Jack3d and Geranium

DMAA is sometimes listed on product labels as geranium extract, oil, leaf, stem, or other part of the geranium plant. A spokeswoman for USPlabs told the New York Times that it is a naturally occurring substance, it has been used as food for more than a century, and is derived from the Asian geranium. She said that there is no evidence that the chemical is unsafe, and the stimulant effects are similar to caffeine.

The evidence linking DMAA to a natural source is very weak. The connection between DMAA and the geranium plant is based on a Chinese study that was published in 1996, in a non-peer-reviewed technical journal. The people who conducted the study took the leaves of the geranium plant and ran it through a spectrometer machine. An automated system assigned identities to various compounds in the plant, one of which was DMAA. Since this report, no independent scientist has been able to reproduce the results. No manufacturer of DMAA has provided cut and dried botanical samples for testing. The results of the report itself are also questionable.

Most experts do not believe that DMAA comes from a natural source. In 2011, the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA), an organization that includes herbal dietary supplement manufacturers, has banned its members from listing DMAA as any part of the geranium plant.

Though the link between DMAA and a natural source is weak, the link between DMAA and a synthetic source is very strong. The drug was first mass-produced by the pharmaceutical drug company Eli Lilly in the 1940s, when the company sold it as a nasal decongestant spray called Forthane. The product never became very popular, and it was discontinued within a few years. Even so, medical literature from the 1950s studied the effects of DMAA in animals, and found that it had greater stimulant effects than ephedrine.

Jack3d Side Effects

Though DMAA has been linked to some serious side effects, the “Black Box” warning on Jack3d is mostly an advertisement for its stimulant effects, except for “novice athletes,” who should use caution. Various websites selling Jack3d (www.jack-3d.com/side-effects) also admit that the product can have serious side effects, including death, but they blame the death on consuming too much of the product. They warn users to show “common sense” and not mix Jack3d with alcohol or other drugs.

Many users defend the products, claiming that at “reasonable” doses, they have suffered no harm. They recommend “cycling” on and off the drug (note that there is no data backing up this safety technique, and many drugs are actually become more dangerous when a user is starting or stopping them).

On the website for USPlabs, they cite seven safety studies that seem to prove that Jack3d does not cause harm, and can help with weight loss. However, a closer look at the studies shows that they were conducted on extremely small sample sizes (98 people total, and some were taking placebos). The results were “published” in an online journal that advertises that it can publish a study in three weeks, with volunteer-based peer review system. All of the studies were conducted over very short periods of time (hours or weeks).

Health risks associated with the use of Jack3d and other DMAA-containing products include:

  • Liver failure
  • Headaches
  • Tremors
  • Light-headedness
  • Depression
  • Dehydration
  • Cold sweats
  • Increased blood pressure
  • Liver and kidney failure
  • Loss of consciousness
  • Racing heartbeat
  • Heart Attack
  • Stoke
  • Lethal exhaustion
  • Death

Do I have a Jack3d Lawsuit?

The Schmidt Firm, PLLC is currently accepting Jack3d induced injury cases in all 50 states. If you or somebody you know has been injured by Jack3d, you should contact our lawyers immediately for a free case consultation. Please use the form below to contact our Jack3d Litigation Group or call toll free 24 hours a day at (866) 920-0753.

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