Attorney General Sues 2 Companies For Deceptive Marketing at Unlicensed Framingham Medical Clinic

Two Florida-based medical companies and their operators have been sued for deceptively marketing and billing for medications and services relating to the treatment of erectile dysfunction at an unlicensed medical clinic in Framingham, Attorney General Maura Healey announced today, July 2.

“It is against the law to market services and offer treatments provided by an unlicensed medical clinic,” Healey said. “Our office will go after companies and individuals that take advantage of vulnerable patients seeking proper medical care.”

The complaint, filed in Suffolk Superior Court, alleges that Dr. Kevin Hornsby and Heidi Hornsby of Florida are responsible for deceptive marketing of a medical facility that went by the names Massachusetts Men’s Medical Clinic, Massachusetts Men’s Medical and Men’s Medical Clinic.

Dr. Hornsby is licensed in Florida but not licensed with the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine.

The defendants allegedly used widespread TV, print and radio advertising to market the erectile dysfunction services and treatments sold at their Framingham facility. The complaint states that they allegedly engaged in various deceptive practices, including:

• falsely representing the medications they offered as new, unique to each patient, painless and with minimal or no side effects;
• deliberately omitting from their advertising that the treatment they were selling involved a penile injection procedure that involved a needle;
• deceptively downplaying the risks of the treatment they marketed and exaggerating the failings of other medications and treatments for erectile dysfunction;
• illegally advertising their facility as a “clinic” when it did not have the required license;
• engaging in high-pressure sales tactics;
• falsely claiming that the medication they sold was by law not returnable; and
• having individuals without the appropriate license perform medical procedures, including injections, without a physician present.

According to the complaint , more than 4,000 consumers went to the unlicensed facility and collectively paid more than $5 million.

The Office has received more than 20 consumer complaints about its operations.

The Attorney General is seeking penalties, restitution for consumers, and a court order permanently prohibiting the defendants from engaging in the deceptive and illegal practices in Massachusetts that are the subject of the lawsuit.

The litigation is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Emiliano Mazlen with assistance from Division Chief Karen Tseng and Legal Analyst Kathryn Doty of Attorney General Healey’s Health Care Division and Kevin McCarthy and Anthony Crespi of Attorney General Healey’s Civil Investigations Division