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| Formerly | Life Extension Foundation |
|---|---|
| Company type | Private |
| Industry | Health |
| Founded | 1980; 45 years ago (1980) |
| Founder | Saul Kent andWilliam Faloon |
| Headquarters | |
| Website | www.brlsociety.org |
TheBiomedical Research & Longevity Society, formerly theLife Extension Foundation (LEF), is a company founded in 1980 to extend the healthy human lifespan by discovering methods to control aging and eradicate disease. Along with the Life Extension Buyer's Club, which sells vitamins and supplements, the Life Extension Foundation (LEF) was headquartered inFort Lauderdale, Florida. It also has a call center location inLas Vegas,Nevada. The company changed its name in 2018 to Biomedical Research & Longevity Society.[1]
Along with the Life Extension Buyer's Club, the Life Extension Foundation (LEF) was headquartered inFort Lauderdale, Florida. The Life Extension Foundation (LEF) was primarily funded by the sale of nutritional supplements to members of an affiliated entity, the Life Extension Buyer's Club.[citation needed] The Life Extension Buyer's Club was incorporated inNevada, and has a separate EIN employer number than the Life Extension Foundation. Its name was changed to the Biomedical Research & Longevity Society in 2018.[1]
In 1981 LEF recommended DHEA, in 1983 it recommended low-dose aspirin, and also in 1983 was the first organization in the United States to recommend coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10). In 1992 it introduced melatonin into its product line.
The Biomedical Research & Longevity Society, which was originally named Life Extension Foundation (LEF), was founded bySaul Kent andWilliam Faloon in 1980.[2][3]
In 1987, theFDA raided the Life Extension Foundation's warehouse, and charged Kent and Faloon with 27 counts, including distributing unapproved drugs. 11 years later, all, by then, 56 FDA charges were dismissed by a federal judge. In 1994, Kent and Faloon opened the FDA Holocaust Museum to highlight millions of deaths they felt were caused by the FDA withholding or delaying approval of life-saving drugs and treatments.[4]
In a 2009 tax filing, the company declared assets of over $25 million and netted more than $3 million on revenue of more than $18 million that year.[5]
In May 2013, theInternal Revenue Service revoked the Life Extension Foundationstax-exempt status, retroactive to 2006.[6] Forbes reported that "The IRS' problem with the Foundation is [...] an entirely worldly one: it asserts the membership organization's operations seem to be too entwined with the for-profit Life Extension Buyers Club."[5] On August 7, 2013, LEF filed a Complaint for Declaratory Judgment inU.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the IRS' allegations.[7]
In 2018, foundation's tax-exempt status was reinstated retroactive to the date it was revoked, May 2013.[8][9] The Life Extension Foundation also changed its name the same year, becoming the Biomedical Research and Longevity Society, Inc., or BRLS.[1]
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