Neways draws fine for selling hormone

A federal judge ordered Springville-based Neways to pay a $500,000 fine and forfeit $1.25 million in profits after the company admitted to selling a human growth hormone product without prescriptions.

U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz issued the order Thursday.

According to court records, Neways sold BioGevity from March 1999 to April 2000.

In addition to the financial penalty, the company is on probation for three years and must notify the judge of any claims of harm by customers, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles.

The company entered a guilty plea in October to illegally distributing the growth hormone in the United States. As part of the guilty plea, Neways agreed to cooperate with the government's investigation of the sale of HGH, which can be dangerous in adults, the statement said.

Independent distributors sold about 100,000 bottles of BioGevity with HGH. The company removed HGH in BioGevity after April 2000, the statement said.