Taking Vitamins

KEN SCOTT is probably the only felon in America convicted for mailing a magazine article. Scott, the owner of Highland Laboratories, a small vitamin company in rural Oregon, was sending free reprints of newspaper and magazine articles to anyone who requested them. These photocopies touted the medical benefits of the coenzyme Q10, an ingredient in a product made by his company. Warned by a Food and Drug Administration inspector that this constituted “labeling,” Mr. Scott countered that he was simply reprinting research. Still, he thought it best not to rile the FDA. So he removed his company’s name from the literature and contracted with his daughter’s direct mail business to handle the information packets.

That wasn’t good enough. An FDA sting operation led to a 1990 raid on his home and business by eleven armed federal marshals, nine FDA agents, and a horde of local and state police officers. Given the time, money, and risk involved in going to trial, Scott decided to cut a deal; he is now serving five years of probation.

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Jeff Elliott

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KEN SCOTT is probably the only felon in America convicted for mailing a magazine article. Scott, the owner of Highland Laboratories, a small vitamin company in rural Oregon, was sending free reprints of newspaper and magazine articles to anyone who requested them. These photocopies touted the medical benefits of the coenzyme Q10, an ingredient in a product made by his company. Warned by a Food and Drug Administration inspector that this constituted “labeling,” Mr. Scott countered that he was simply reprinting research. Still, he thought it best not to rile the FDA. So he removed his company’s name from the literature and contracted with his daughter’s direct mail business to handle the information packets.

That wasn’t good enough. An FDA sting operation led to a 1990 raid on his home and business by eleven armed federal marshals, nine FDA agents, and a horde of local and state police officers. Given the time, money, and risk involved in going to trial, Scott decided to cut a deal; he is now serving five years of probation.