Google Amends Complaint: Adds Four Defendants to Online Pharmacy Case
On October 19, 2010, Google’s attorneys filed an amended complaint in US District Court against four others accusing them of violating the AdWords Program agreement to entice consumers to online pharmacies not approved by the National Association of Board of Pharmacies VIPPS certification program.
In addition to the two defendants original named, Omar Jackman and John Doe “Simon,” the complaint now adds Gregory Gavin, Amanda Odell, Joey Patron and Gina Wyant. Defendants Gavin, Odell and Patron reside in Clarkesville, Tennessee, according to the complaint and defendant Wyant resides in Columbiana, Ohio.
The complaint states that “on information and belief” the defendants worked together. Gavin allegedly registered a domain name, and then all four defendants allegedly opened a number of AdWords accounts to advertise the domain name. The complaint states the defendants were not verified by VIPPS, which is required by the Google AdWords agreement, in order to advertise pharmaceuticals.
On October 19, 2010, Google’s attorneys filed an amended complaint in US District Court against four other defendants accusing them of violating the AdWords Program agreement to entice consumers to online pharmacies not approved by the National Association of Board of Pharmacies VIPPS certification program.
In addition to the two defendants originally named, Omar Jackman and John Doe “Simon,” the complaint now adds Gregory Gavin, Amanda Odell, Joey Patron and Gina Wyant. Defendants Gavin, Odell and Patron reside in Clarkesville, Tennessee, according to the complaint and defendant Wyant resides in Columbiana, Ohio.
The complaint states that “on information and belief” the defendants worked together. Gavin allegedly registered a domain name, and then all four defendants allegedly opened a number of AdWords accounts to advertise the domain name. The complaint states the defendants were not verified by VIPPS, which is required by the Google AdWords agreement, in order to advertise pharmaceuticals.
In order to subvert Google’s advertisement verification software, the four defendants allegedly ran an ad that misspelled and added a space in the brand name of an orally-effective anabolic steroid that is classified as a Schedule III medication, which can only be dispensed by prescription. It is commonly abused for muscle-building purposes among weight lifters and other athletes. The complaint states their advertisement stated “Nutropen-Gh noscript,” shorthand for no prescription required and “100% Legal.”
After the original ad was detected by Google’s staff and the related accounts suspended, the complaint alleges the defendants opened at least six more AdWords accounts.