Local News in Brief : Diet Pill Suit Settled

A Beverly Hills firm selling “Fat-Magnet” diet pills has agreed to settle a government lawsuit by halting claims that it “flushes” fat out of the body without diet or exercise, attorneys said Monday.

Harold Martino, who runs the Fat-Magnet mail-order business, has agreed to change his advertisements and send letters to customers telling them the pill cannot cause weight loss without exercise or reduced calorie intake, Assistant U.S. Atty. George Wu said.

Martino, who was receiving 1,600 pieces of mail a day in March, will send a letter to those who have ordered the pill saying that Fat-Magnet “has agreed not to represent that the product will cause a fast, dramatic or easy loss of body weight or fat without calorie reduction,” Wu said.