CARLSBAD -- A Carlsbad company seized last June by the federal government over claims it made that its proprietary dietary supplement could cure or ameliorate literally dozens of diseases has been banned from making any unsubstantiated claims for that or any other product as part of a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission.

Filed March 4 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, the stipulated final judgment and order for permanent injunction prohibits Seasilver Inc., and product manufacturer Americaloe Inc. and several individuals from making unsubstantiated or false claims for any dietary supplement, food, drug or device and awards monetary damages of $120 million.

Seasilver is a concoction of aloe vera, pau d'arco and something called "sealogica," which the company describes as a proprietary blend of oceanic botanicals. The company adds a mixture of grape, cranberry and black cherry juice concentrates and water and recommends that customers swallow between 1 and 2 ounces daily.

Claims that the FTC said the company had made that its product treated or cured some 650 diseases, including cancer and AIDS, and which constituted the basis of the FTC's action against the company and its principals for selling a misbranded product, cannot be found on the company's Web site now. But in June, Internet ads for Seasilver claimed that it cured or relieved conditions ranging from acne to syphilis, worms to varicose veins, meningitis to athlete's foot, and cancer to toothache. Those claims have been replaced by a simple assertion on the company Web site now that says it is "certified kosher."

The product, despite its simple formulation, is not cheap: a quart costs $40.

Seasilver is a so-called multilevel marketing organization that distributes its product through layers of wholesale and retail associates. It also operates a call center at the company headquarters in Carlsbad.

The FTC pounced on the headquarters June 16, throwing its employees out of work briefly. The company, though profitable, was placed in the hands of a receiver.

The judgment and order entered March 4 returns control of the firm to its owners, Bela and Jason Berkes.

Although the judgment amount was set at $120 million, the government will be content with collecting $3 million from the company and the Berkeses to be used as "equitable relief, including but not limited to consumer redress and any attendant expenses for the administration of any redress fund," the judgment and order says. However, it also says that if any of the parties engages in prohibited activity, or if the full $3 million is not paid within six months, the $120 million judgment will be enforced.

"The claims for Seasilver threatened consumers' health by encouraging delays and replacements for proven treatments," said Howard Beales, director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection.

"Products touted as cure-alls almost always cure nothing," he said.

Repeated telephone calls Wednesday to Seasilver's Carlsbad headquarters were not answered.

Named with Seasilver and the Berkeses in the action were Brett Rademacher of Anchorage, Alaska, the product's principal distributor, and David R. Friedman, a Wilmington, N.C., chiropractor who, as co-chairman of the company's medical advisory board was its principal "expert" spokesman. Separate judgments and orders were entered against Rademacher and Friedman, who must pay $500,000 and $1 million, respectively.

The judgments prohibit all of the parties from making false or misleading claims about the health benefits, efficacy or safety of Seasilver or any covered product, and from misrepresenting specifically that Seasilver is effective in the treatment of multiple myeloma, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, cancers of the lung, breast and prostate, brain tumors, diabetes, AIDS, typhoid and anthrax. The product had been claimed to treat all of those conditions, the FTC said.

The injunction, reflecting another FTC allegation, also prohibits Seasilver or any of the defendants from claiming that Seasilver or any other product causes rapid, substantial or permanent weight loss when not combined with reduced caloric intake.

In agreeing to the stipulated final judgment, none of the defendants admitted any wrongdoing.

Contact staff writer Edmond Jacoby at (760) 739-6675 or ejacoby@nctimes.com.