Avini Lawsuit: BioGenus Default Judgment and Collection

The Avini Health lawsuit was a federal breach-of-contract case that Avini Health Corporation filed against its supplier BioGenus LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida in October 2022. Avini, a direct-sales supplement company, accused BioGenus of shipping defective nano-silver product and secretly selling a new product directly to Avini’s own distributors in violation of a right-of-first-refusal clause. After BioGenus’s attorney withdrew and the company failed to hire new counsel, the court entered a default judgment on July 1, 2024, awarding Avini $210,000 in damages plus roughly $44,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs.¹

What Avini Said BioGenus Did Wrong

In March 2022, the two companies signed a Production and Supply Agreement. BioGenus would manufacture silver nanoparticle product and ship it to Nutra Pharma Corporation, which acted as Avini’s contract manufacturer, receiving the product in five-gallon tubs and packaging it into four-ounce bottles for Avini’s customers and distributors. The contract also gave Avini a right of first refusal on any new BioGenus product, with a 30-day review window.²

Avini’s complaint raised two separate breaches. The first involved a May 2022 shipment. The contract called for a yellow product containing 40 parts per million of silver per bottle. Avini said the delivered product turned clear, which indicated instability, and tested at less than 1 ppm. Avini pulled back 496 packaged bottles and about 15 tubs, claiming $21,000 in out-of-pocket costs and roughly $184,000 in lost profits.¹

The second claim targeted BioGenus’s principal, Gary Samuelson. Avini alleged that Samuelson developed a two-ounce concentrated spray version of a product called REDOX and never offered it to Avini as the agreement required. According to the complaint, Samuelson told Avini the product was still in development while selling it directly to Avini’s own distributors at dinner events starting in July 2022, at $25 per bottle. Avini initially claimed at least $5 million in lost profits on this count, though its proven damages ended up far smaller.²

How the Case Ended in Default

BioGenus moved to dismiss in January 2023, arguing that Avini lacked standing because Nutra Pharma had submitted the purchase order, and that REDOX was unfinished and could not trigger the right of first refusal. Judge Rodolfo A. Ruiz II denied the motion in March 2023, calling those factual arguments premature.²

The case turned in late 2023. On October 31, the court let BioGenus’s attorney withdraw. When BioGenus never hired a replacement, Judge Ruiz on December 5, 2023 dismissed BioGenus’s counterclaim, struck its answer and affirmative defenses, and directed the Clerk to enter a default.¹

What the Court Awarded

Avini’s first bid for a default judgment was denied without prejudice in February 2024 because the filings did not adequately support the requested fees, costs, and equitable relief. On a renewed motion, Judge Ruiz on July 1, 2024 awarded Avini $210,000 in compensatory damages. That figure broke down as $205,000 for the defective silver product ($21,000 in direct costs and $184,000 in lost profits) and $5,000 for the REDOX breach, based on roughly 200 bottles sold without authorization. The court added $42,355 in attorneys’ fees and $1,985.75 in taxable costs, for a total recovery of about $254,000.¹

Avini also asked for specific performance and a permanent injunction to force BioGenus to honor the right of first refusal going forward. Judge Ruiz denied both, finding that the REDOX product was not “sufficiently unique” to justify equitable relief and that money damages were adequate.¹

Collection Is Still Ongoing

The judgment has not fully translated into cash. Docket entries from November 2025 show Avini pursuing writs of garnishment. Wells Fargo Bank answered one such writ on November 7, 2025, and Avini filed a notice of compliance with Florida’s garnishment statute five days later.³

Who Avini and BioGenus Are

Avini Health is a Nevada-incorporated direct-sales company that markets nutritional supplements, including Cell Defender, Plus Fiber, Nano Silver, and Zmunity, through a network of independent distributors. It registered with Florida’s Division of Corporations in October 2022. Neil Roth is CEO and Rik Deitsch is Chief Scientific Officer, corporate secretary, and registered agent.⁴

Deitsch also served as CEO of Nutra Pharma Corporation, Avini’s contract manufacturer under a separate March 2022 agreement. BioGenus’s invoices went to both Roth at Avini and Deitsch at Nutra Pharma.¹ In a separate matter, the SEC sued Nutra Pharma, Deitsch, and consultant Sean McManus in 2018 in the Eastern District of New York, alleging securities fraud involving false claims about cobra-venom pain relief drugs, fabricated press releases, and stock-price manipulation. Deitsch, without admitting or denying the allegations, agreed in May 2024 to pay $44,046 in disgorgement, $5,013 in prejudgment interest, and a $30,000 civil penalty, and accepted a three-year officer-and-director bar and a three-year penny stock bar.⁵

BioGenus LLC was the supplier and counter-claimant. Court records identify Gary Samuelson as its principal. Beyond its role manufacturing the nano-silver product and the REDOX spray, the filings say little about the company’s wider operations.⁶

1
GovInfo. Avini Health Corporation v. BioGenus LLC, Case No. 0:22-cv-61992-RAR
2
Justia. Avini Health Corporation v. BioGenus LLC, Order Denying Motion to Dismiss
3
PACER Monitor. Avini Health Corporation v. BioGenus LLC
4
Florida Sunbiz. Avini Health Corporation, Florida Registration Details
5
SEC. SEC Litigation Release, Nutra Pharma Corp
6
GovInfo. Avini Health Corporation v. BioGenus LLC, Case Details