Who is Dr. Scott Connelly? Well, that depends on who you ask. You may have heard that he was the creator of the original MET-Rx formula or that he discovered an ingredient that would later be named Metamyosyn, but those claims appear to be false.
The truth is Dr. Scott Connelly has spun a web of lies that is finally catching up with him. He soared to great heights along with Bill Phillips in the development of MET-Rx. On the brink of bankruptcy, MET-Rx was sold to Rexall Sundown in 1999, and not by him as he claims, but by the Shansby Group, the majority partner Connelly sold it to beforehand in need of cash.
After a brief, failed attempt to peddle high-protein dog food with K9-Rx, Dr. Connelly tried to relive his MET-Rx days with the launch of Progenex SRG. He struggled for nearly two years to build a company, and turned his attention to raising money from a group of middle-class ranchers and farmers from the Midwest.
While he struggled to sell protein without the likes of Bill Phillips behind him, he did still have a knack for selling a legacy and medical claims – most of which are turning out to be lies.
Where Was He Working: Progenex or Body-Rx?
He partnered with other investors to create Progenex Dairy Bioactives, and was an officer and director from November 9, 2009 through April 27, 2010. He resigned both appointments on April 27, 2010, after being confronted by Progenex with evidence that he breached fiduciary duties to the company, conspiring to compete against it – all while drawing over $17,500 a month as CEO.
While negotiating his contract and exclusive contributions to Progenex, Connelly did not disclose his ultimate plan, which was to use the investment efforts conducted by Progenex to source funding for his own company, Body-Rx. Connelly had his own agenda at Progenex, and attempted to use money dedicated to Progenex to launch a brand that focused more of its marketing efforts on him.
The Lies Keep Getting Bigger
The more we researched the claims against Connelly, the more lies we uncovered. Truth be told, it was hard to condense it all into one article, but I wanted to give you a few highlights.
Connelly intentionally withheld information that MET-Rx had been sued by the Federal Trade Commission in the matter entitled Federal Trade Commission v. MET-Rx, USA (USDC, Central District of California). In that suit, it was contended that no scientific data or studies demonstrated that MET-Rx products are safe. In fact, it was alleged that the products contained steroidal compounds.
Connelly had falsely represented MET-Rx as being associated with, and endorsed by, the well-respected Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas. The Cooper Clinic demanded Connelly cease and desist using its name.
As seen on a thread on Bodybuilding.com and part of the court documents that are available at http://www.occourts.org/online-services/case-access/ and entering the last name “Connelly”: The following constitutes a list of many of the representations, which were made by Connelly, that at the time he made them, he knew them to be false. This is not intended to be all-exhaustive and the Plaintiffs continue to investigate and compile the list of concealments and misrepresentations he made, which appear to be false, including but not limited to:
a. His educational background.
b. He discovered the ingredient later named Metamyosyn.
c. He was the creator of the original MET-Rx formula.
d. He had sold his company, MET-Rx for $108 million to Rexall Sundown.
e. He had created a business (MET-Rx) that had gone from $0 to $45 million in its first nine
months.
f. The ProgenexSRG.com website had a reorder rate above 80% and was generating gross sales greater than $60,000 per month.
g. He had numerous clinical studies that had been conducted related to the efficacy of the specialized ingredients for both sports and medical applications.
h. WGFE (his magic-medical ingredient purported to heal bones and tissue in half the time) was essential to the success of the medical division only obtainable through MGC (Australian partners), when in fact the active ingredient is simply lactoferrin.
i. MGC’s Natraboost was also obtainable only from MGC and was the only patented and proprietary ingredient in the world that could produce rapid recovery after exhaustive activity, based upon a demonstrated study, which was represented as using Natraboost.
j. That efficacy for his research and claims, which demonstrated unprecedented, wound healing and tissue regeneration as part of a rat study purportedly were conducted by he and Dr. Robert Demling.
k. That he identified all of the specialized formulations and their ingredients which together formed the medical composite as being generally regarded as safe (“GRAS STATUS) as defined by the FDA.
l. MET-Rx was the only commercialized protein supplement document by published third party peer review research to yield substantial enhancement of tissue growth and regeneration.
m. He could pledge the exclusive rights to a proprietary screw top protein delivery device to Progenex.
n. That he would not compete with the new company in the area of sports nutrition, medicine or bodybuilding.
Through research done both on the message boards and for the article, all of these statements point to Connelly being guilty as charged.
The Pattern Is Clear
There is a definite pattern here. Connelly has had several lawsuits filed against him. He has also promised to show proof of, and studies related, to the validity of MET-Rx to the National Council Against Health Fraud, Dateline NBC, the San Francisco Examiner, and failed to do so.
One member on the Bodybuilding.com forum Googled Dr. Scott Connelly and MET-Rx and came up with this list of cases against him:
- 30-2010-00371616-CU-BC-CJC DEFENDANT Scott Connelly 05/12/2010 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 30-2010-00371616-CU-BC-CJC DEFENDANT Scott Connelly 05/12/2010 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 779211 DEFENDANT SCOTT CONNELLY 05/15/1997 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 00CC01355 MET-RX NUTRITION INC DEFENDANT 01/25/2000 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 807216 MET-RX SUBSTRATE TECH INC DEFENDANT 03/24/1999 DECLARATORY RELIEF
- 807216 MET-RX USA INC DEFENDANT 03/24/1999 DECLARATORY RELIEF
- 803993 MET-RX USA INC CROSS DEFENDANT 01/06/1999 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 793402 MET-RX USA INC DEFENDANT 04/23/1998 PI/PD – AUTO
- 785993 MET-RX USA INC. DEFENDANT 10/27/1997 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 779211 MET-RX USA INC CROSS COMPLAINANT 05/15/1997 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 779211 MET-RX USA INC. DEFENDANT 05/15/1997 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771551 MET-RX FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH CROSS – DEFENDANT 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771551 MET-RX USA INC CROSS – DEFENDANT 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 710413 DEFENDANT SCOTT CONNELLY 05/11/1993 MALPRACTICE-MEDICAL
- 626411 DEFENDANT SCOTT CONNELLY M D 06/01/1990 NEGLIGENCE
- 771551 MET-RX USA INC DEFENDANT 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771551 MET-RX SUBSTRATE TECH INC DEFENDANT 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771551 MET-RX FOUNDTN FOR HLTH ENHAN PLAINTIFF 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771551 MET-RX SUBSTRATE TECH INC CROSS – COMPLAINANT 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771551 MET-RX SUBSTRATE TECH INC CROSS – DEFENDANT 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771551 MET-RX USA INC CROSS – COMPLAINANT 11/12/1996 BREACH OF CONTRACT/WARRANTY
- 771532 MET-RX USA INC DEFENDANT 11/12/1996 FRAUD
- 770365 MET-RX USA INC DEFENDANT 10/16/1996 CONFIRM ARBITRATION
- 770365 MET-RX SUBSTRATE TECHNOLGY INC DEFENDANT 10/16/1996 CONFIRM ARBITRATION
- 770365 MET-RX INTERNATIONAL LTD DEFENDANT 10/16/1996 CONFIRM ARBITRATION
Vince Andrich and Anthony Roberts
Connelly, as Chief Executive Officer of Progenex Dairy Bioactives, negotiated a sweetheart employment deal for friend and business associate Vince Andrich, who is alleged to have been in conspiracy with Connelly to further his wrongful goals.
Connelly hired Andrich as the Executive VP of Sports Marketing at Progenex in exchange for an attractive salary and compensation package. This obviously required a certain loyalty from Andrich.
However, Connelly and Andrich never disclosed to Progenex that Andrich was simultaneously working for Body-Rx during the same time he was on the Progenex payroll. As a consequence of this moonlighting arrangement, Andrich rarely reported to work, and by March 2010, he was reporting to the office only a few hours per month — sounds like my kind of job!
Following Connelly’s resignation as a member of Progenex’s Board, he nominated Andrich to become a Board member knowing that Andrich would continue to advance his own personal goals over the interests of Progenex. Of course, Connelly also neglected to mention that Andrich had been found responsible for conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering and had been ordered to pay $10 million in restitution.
Not only was Connelly working both sides for his personal gain, but he was also sabotaging Progenex. This email was sent to Vince Andrich by Don Aspinall, a former Progenex employee that was hired by Connelly. The evidence of sabotage is clear. Connelly can’t seem to stomach that his investors have done a better job running the company without him, as evidenced by the rapid growth of Progenex in his absence.
Bringing in the Big Guns — Anthony Roberts
Now Andrich and Connelly have some star power in their court – or so they think. But is Anthony Roberts the best they can do? If you are trying to maintain a legitimate reputation in the industry, I’m not sure why you’d have Anthony Roberts coming to your defense on forum threads.
Roberts was all over the threads at Bodybuilding.com posting that he was threatened after writing an article on his own site about Progenex. Somehow Anthony always seems to make it about himself, doesn’t he?
Well, he is in hot water again, as he is now named in yet another lawsuit, with Progenex naming him as co-conspirator in their Orange County, California lawsuit. He has been advised at this point to retain legal counsel . . . but it’s anyone’s guess if that lawyer will be funded by Connelly, or will Anthony appear in pro-per, emerging from his mother’s basement?
His Latest Attempt — Body-Rx
Connelly took his web of lies and claims of fame to some Kansas farmers, prompting them to invest over $1 million in Progenex, while simultaneously spending his time building a competitor, Body-Rx. While Body-Rx was supposed to sell high protein foods like pizza and candy bars, it instead intends to directly compete with its own line of proteins, in direct breach of all agreements with Progenex. Eric Howard was promoting Connelly’s comeback with Body-Rx both on his LinkedIn page and in emails to supplement companies.
Howard is currently being sued by Ultimate Nutrition for disclosing confidential information, because he went after their customer base in his email campaign.
Connelly can call his new venture whatever he wants. His business model will still remain the same. He has spent his career screwing people over at every turn, and will continue on his path of lies. It apparently is not harming Progenex in the least, as they are reporting their sales to have increased ten times over since Connelly has been gone from the company.
SteroidsLive.com is committed to bringing you this entire story as more facts unfold. Check back soon for updates.
