New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who led a campaign against the nutritional supplement industry, resigned this past May after allegations of physical abuse by four women were reported in an article in The New Yorker magazine.

Governor Andrew Cuomo had called for Schneiderman’s resignation within hours of the article’s publication, and only slightly more than an hour later Schneiderman, a Democrat who was running for re-election, said he was stepping down.

“In the last several hours, serious allegations, which I strongly contest, have been made against me,” Schneiderman said in a statement. “While these allegations are unrelated to my professional conduct or the operations of the office, they will effectively prevent me from leading the office’s work at this critical time. I therefore resign my office, effective at the close of business on May 8, 2018.”

In the article, The New Yorker reported that four women who said they had had romantic relationships or encounters with Schneiderman said they had been subjected to nonconsensual physical violence.

In February 2015, Schneiderman led an investigation into four major retailers in New York that led to store-brand herbal supplements being pulled off the shelves at Target, Walmart, GNC and Walgreens. He then issued subpoenas to the manufacturers of the products, demanding they explain how they verify the quality of their supplements and what scientific and research testing they perform to support their label’s claims.

Consumer groups, as well as supplement industry associations criticized Schneiderman's use of DNA tests without additional chemical analysis, saying many products that use extracts of a plant's active ingredients would not test positive for DNA but could still be effective.