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Lawsuit Filed Against Hormone Replacement Company With A Location In Glen Burnie

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A Nashville court has issued a temporary restraining order against a Franklin-based hormone replacement therapy company after the state attorney general filed a lawsuit for making unsubstantiated health claims and failing to advise patients of potential side effects.

Attorney General Bob Cooper said in a news release on Wednesday that the Davidson County Circuit Court order temporarily halts claims and practices by HRC Medical Centers Inc., which has branded clinics in Nashville, Memphis and Knoxville.

A message left at the company's corporate headquarters seeking comment wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

The state sued the company, its owner, Don Hale, and former company officer, Dan Hale, on Monday under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. The lawsuit says the company's "bio-identical" hormone replacement therapy was a cocktail of mega-doses of testosterone at many times higher than levels normally found in the body.

A 2011 report by WTVF-TV talked to a female patient who said her voice deepened and she grew facial hair after receiving the treatment. The TV station reported state records showed a doctor at the clinic was reprimanded by the state Board of Medical Examiners over treatment that resulted in an overdose of testosterone for one patient.

The HRC website also lists locations in Atlanta; St. Louis; Tampa; Lexington and Louisville, Ky.; Glen Burnie, Md.; Grand Rapids and Wixom, Mich.; Charlotte, Greensboro and Raleigh, N.C.; Dublin and Fairfield, Ohio; Greeneville, S.C.; and Glen Allen, Va.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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