Positive Drug Test Lawsuit Judgment Affirmed with Reduced Damages

The New Jersey Appellate Court affirmed a default judgment but reduced the damage award

The following facts are derived from the record on appeal. Plaintiff, a resident of Miami, Florida, is a professional mixed martial arts (MMA) athlete who competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the highest level of competition in MMA. He is also a former world champion freestyle wrestler who earned a silver medal at the 2000 Olympic Games.

Defendant is a dietary supplement company, doing business as Goldstar Performance Products, having a principal place of business in New Jersey. The president of Gold Star Distribution, LLC is Steven Hankin. According to plaintiff, he consumed one of defendant’s products called “SHED RX,” relying upon defendant’s representation that the product it manufactured, marketed and sold, was free of any substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). SHED RX is marketed as a fast-acting, maximum strength diuretic water weight loss muscle definition formula and is sold in capsule form. The SHED RX label states it “uses natural ingredients” and that defendant adheres to “strict GC/MS and HPLC testing procedures.”

In order to ensure compliance with WADA regulations, plaintiff conducted his own research to confirm SHED RX did not contain any banned substances, including ibutamoren, in order to avoid being disqualified from competitions. Plaintiff also read the SHED RX label and discussed ingesting the product with his colleagues to ensure its compliance with WADA’s regulations. Being satisfied SHED RX was safe and not contraindicated by WADA, plaintiff started taking the product. To his surprise, when a random urine sample required by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) was collected on December 16, 2015, plaintiff tested positive for ibutamoren.

The urine sample was tested by the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (SMRTL) in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is accredited by WADA. This was the first time plaintiff ever tested positive for a banned substance in his athletic career. Because of his positive test result, plaintiff was suspended by the UFC for a period of six months, commencing on January 12, 2016. According to plaintiff, he was a “lead contender” for the UFC middleweight title at the time and was denied the opportunity to fight. Plaintiff also claims he was denied other promising career opportunities and was characterized as a “doper” by the press and the public.

(Mike Frisch)