In 2002, A4M was a co-recipient of the first "Silver Fleece Award," created to publicize "the most ridiculous claims about antiaging medicine" according to the award's inventor, S. Jay Olshansky. Heated legal and academic controversies ensued. Olshansky, a biodemographer at the University of Illinois at Chicago, described it as "a lighthearted attempt to make the public aware of...anti-aging quackery". This "award" was presented by Olshansky, who stated that in his opinion, a "suite of anti-aging substances created by Ronald Klatz and Robert Goldman...and sold on the Internet by Market America, Inc." had made "outrageous or exaggerated claims about slowing or reversing human aging". Writing in "Biogerontology", anthropologist Courtney Mykytyn of the University of Southern California states that this award appears to have been an attempt by Olshansky to protect what he saw as "'real' science from the taint of swindle." Mykytyn states that this involved Olshansky "tagging the A4M as fraudulent and its principals as profiteers". In response, the Academy filed defamation lawsuits, demanding $150 million in damages, with Klatz stating "We take great exception to Mr Olshansky and his tactics which have finally compelled us to file suit for various unprofessional and improper actions". Klatz and Goldman described this action as "part of a larger campaign of disparagement by Olshansky and Perls aimed at discrediting A4M and its founders". The "Chicago Tribune" quoted experts on libel law who stated that the action was an "almost unheard-of attempt to punish academics for comments made in their professional capacity". "CNN" states that Olshansky countersued and that "both sides eventually agreed to drop their cases". The "Chicago Tribune" states that the case "ended in a settlement, with neither side paying damages or the other's costs."