HeightMax™ is a height-enhancing pill created by Sunny Health Nutrition Technology and Products, a supplement company which also manufactured Liposan Ultra Chitosan Fat Burner and Osteo-Vite. HeightMax™ claimed it could help children, teenagers, and young adults grow two to three inches in six months, with marked increases in lean body mass and reductions in overall body fat.
HeightMax™ claimed to increase a person's growth potential because its supplements reportedly contained ingredients that maximized the growth rate in teenagers, children, and young adults. They specified the ingredients in their dietary supplement as being vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and herbs. They never publicly listed what these ingredients were, however. They instructed people to take their supplements twice daily while engaging in healthy eating habits.
Up until 2006, HeightMax™ listed a study on their website which claimed people who took their supplement saw an average height increase of 10 to 25 percent within a six month time period. It also said people who used it regularly for a year gained a height increase of 20 to 35 percent. They never specified who conducted the study, however. The details of the study were never published publicly.
William Thomsom, a doctor who claimed to hold a master's degree in biochemistry, reportedly created the product. He said he had created the formula based on years of clinical research and studies, but these studies were never listed publicly on the HeightMax™ website. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) eventually discovered that William Thomson had not actually created or endorsed the product, and in fact, he didn't even exist.
Due to numerous complaints from consumers about the product, the FTC formally charged the company with making false and unsubstantiated claims on November 21, 2006. The FTC claimed HeightMax™ had fabricated the study and the endorsements on their website. They also claimed HeightMax™ had made false claims that it could help people grow taller, when none of its ingredients were shown effective for promoting bone growth.
The FTC eventually ordered Sunny Health Nutrition Technology and Products to refund $1.9 million to its customers. They also ordered it to stop making false claims and creating false endorsements in order to make the product more appealing. Since the FTC ruling, the makers of HeightMax™ have stopped selling this product in compliance with the FTC order.