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3:26-cv-00396 · U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
Evidentiary treatment: This summarizes the plaintiff's own allegations as stated in the complaint or docket record cited below. It reflects what was filed, not a court finding, and is not a determination that the allegations are true.
Plaintiff Frank Tufano, pro se, alleges fraud, fraudulent concealment (42 Pa. C.S.A. § 5524), tortious interference, and civil conspiracy, plus a claim under 18 U.S.C. § 241 for conspiracy against his First and Seventh Amendment rights, against Paul Saladino, MD and his company Heart & Soil Supplements LLC.
He alleges Saladino copied and commercially exploited his earlier carnivore-diet research and online persona without attribution or compensation, and that Saladino, his attorney, and other unnamed parties conspired to obtain a default judgment against him in an earlier, related S.D.N.Y. case (Saladino, MD v. Tufano, No. 7:20-cv-09346). The complaint seeks economic damages equal to 15% of Heart & Soil's gross sales, estimated at no less than $6,600,600, and demands a jury trial.
This page separates court/ruling records, party filings, research classifications, secondary sources and public statements. Unknown or unresolved fields remain labelled as such.
Outcome reason: The court consolidated removed action 3:26-cv-01266 (C074) into this action, denied a default-judgment motion as premature, and ordered Tufano to show cause by June 5, 2026 regarding service.
Research status: Source-backed consolidation; later docket check needed
Research notes: C061 was filed as an original federal complaint on Feb. 17, 2026 against Paul Saladino, MD and Heart & Soil Supplements LLC. A separate Lackawanna case, C032, is recorded with the same filing date; after its removal as C074, the federal court consolidated C074 into C061.
Strength labels are research classifications, not judicial declarations that the litigant is vexatious.
Fourteen days after a Feb. 3, 2026 R&R described three earlier Saladino-related actions (C048, C055, C059) as a trilogy raising essentially the same claims, Tufano filed C061 in M.D. Pa. against Paul Saladino, MD and Heart & Soil Supplements LLC. This entry records only the timing; it does not assert that C061 repeats the trilogy's claims.
Source — courtlistener.com ↗Sequence does not by itself prove motive or causation.
Tufano filed C061 in M.D. Pa. against Paul Saladino, MD and Heart & Soil Supplements LLC.
Source — courtlistener.com ↗A Lackawanna County Saladino case (2026-00838 / 26-cv-838) is recorded on the same date as C061.
Source — dockets.justia.com ↗The court consolidated 3:26-cv-01266 into 3:26-cv-00396, denied Tufano's default-judgment motion as premature, and ordered him to show cause by June 5 why the matter should not be dismissed for failure to effect proper service.
Source — courtlistener.com ↗C061 was an original federal action filed Feb. 17, 2026 against Paul Saladino and Heart & Soil. C032 is recorded the same day; after C032 was removed as C074, the court consolidated C074 into C061.
Federal source — dockets.justia.com ↗Frank Tufano Litigation Research. "Tufano v. Saladino, MD et al (3:26-cv-00396)". Research last verified August 8, 2026. https://suedbyfranktufano.com/cases/3-26-cv-00396-tufano-v-saladino-md-et-al/