$500,000 In Consumer Refunds From Rite Aid After False Cold Remedy Advertising Suit
Remember the class-action lawsuit against the makers of cold-and-flu-preventing magic potion Airborne? Airborne claimed that it could prevent or shorten colds and flus, without any actual scientific evidence to back those claims up.
Rite Aid had its own similar natural remedy, Germ Defense, which was sold and marketed in its stores alongside Airborne. The FTC went ahead and charged Rite Aid with false advertising, and now Germ Defense customers are entitled to refunds.
The manufacturer of Germ Defense, Improvita, has also been charged with false advertising. If you bought Germ Defense tablets or lozenges, you're eligible for a refund of the value of up to six packages of the supplement. From the FTC's press release:
Like Airborne Health, Inc., which settled deceptive advertising charges with the FTC last
year for marketing its effervescent tablets as a cold prevention and treatment remedy, Rite Aid will settle similar charges for selling a purported cold-and-flu remedy under its private label. Rite Aid will pay $500,000 for consumer redress under the agreed-upon final order. The company is required to post a refund notice, along with postage-pre-paid refund request forms, in a clear and conspicuous location in the cold-and-flu aisle at each of its stores for 60 days beginning on October 1, 2009. Consumers will have until December 31, 2009 to submit refund requests for up to six packages of Germ Defense.Also under the settlement agreement, Rite Aid may not claim that any Rite-Aid-label version of Airborne, or any Rite-Aid-label food, drug, or dietary supplement can reduce the risk of or prevent colds or flu, reduce the severity or duration of colds, or boost the immune system unless the claims are truthful, not misleading, and substantiated by competent and reliable scientific evidence.
Rite Aid and Improvita marketed several flavors of Germ Defense lozenges and tablets as
dietary supplements that contained vitamins C and E, zinc, and echinacea. They claimed the products could reduce the risk of or prevent colds and flu; protect against or fight germs; reduce the severity or duration of a cold; protect against colds and flu in crowded places; and boost the immune system, according to the complaints. The FTC charged that there is inadequate evidence to support these claims.
If you're eligible, make sure to wander by your nearest Rite Aid and pick up those forms in October. And be wary of the health claims made about any supplement that aren't backed by actual, like, science.
Rite Aid to Pay $500,000 in Consumer Refunds to Settle FTC Charges of False and Deceptive Advertising [FTC] (Thanks, Mary!)
(Photo: el_en_houston)
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Comments:
A woman I work with pumps her 5 year old daughter full of this crap, to "protect her from swine flu." I keep telling her to check with her pediatrician. I read that the high levels of some of the vitamins and herbs or whatever in Airborne can be dangerous for small children. Some people don't listen. They think the more, the better, when it comes to vitamins and herbal supplements.
@BZMedia:
Whenever I see that stuff in a pharmacy alongside the real medicine I automatically don't trust the pharmacist. If a pharmacist can sell that crap then they aren't in business to actually help people.
But, but, it was invented by a school teacher! It says so right on the box! It has to work!
@BZMedia: Some medicine can be used via skin contact. LSD for example can be absorbed through the skin.
I'd feel like a real ass if I were one of the people who had to ask for a refund on magic.
@Conrad: "LSD for example can be absorbed through the skin."
True, but it works best under the tongue or in the eyes. ;-)
LSD isn't really a good comparison though. If you're dropping fry, you're gonna make damn sure of how much you're taking, because the consequences.... well...... yeah.
If we assume the Head-On stuff actually works for a moment, I can easily see someone with a bad headache smearing that crap all over their head hoping for relief. If it contained actual medication in it, like acetaminophen or something, that could be a huge problem. There's really no safe dosing.
However, [en.wikipedia.org] tells us: "Chemical analysis of Head-On has shown that the product consists almost entirely of wax. (large section about the actual ingredients, which include a flower, here removed for brevity) This amount of dilution is so great that the product has been described as a placebo; with skeptic James Randi calling it a "major medical swindle".
What about the Walgreen's version - Wal-Borne?
Not that I'd purchase any, but I saw it and laughed several times.
@Gmork: Most retail pharmacies don't give the pharmacist any control over what's on the counter in the pharmacy, it's filled and changed out by normal store employees accoring to what corporate wants there. We would just hide the crap during our shift to avoid looking foolish.
@WraithSama: I never understood that as a pitch. Was it supposed to mean the inventor was rilly rilly smart? Or that it wasn't one of them egghead scientists, so it was a good common-sense thing?
I mean, I never really look at pharmaceuticals and think "If only teachers made more of these."
@BZMedia:Actually there is some scientific research to support that particular headache treatment. Any oil like peppermint or eucalyptus when rubbed on the forehead causes the blood vessels to enlarge and thus increase blood flow which has been shwon to ease headaches and/or lessen their severity. As a long time headache suffer, I found this research years ago. I could only find the correct oils at health food stores before.
I bet they are going to ask for a receipt for each refund you try to claim. Hmmm... I wonder where I filed my "Germ Defense" recepits for November of 2006?
@BZMedia: There is actual science backing up the perception of pain relief from touch.
Head-On is still something of a scam, as it's overpriced for what the product is. However, there's science there, so the FTC won't be coming after them.
Suck it, homeopathy.
@Wrathernaut: Went to Walgreen's yesterday and their receipts announced that you can get a partial refund or a free flu shot.
www.walbornrefund.com
@MelitaIrene: You can also eliminate a headache using nothing more than the power of your mind, if you know how.
@Wrathernaut: All this confusion. It sounds like the real problem is a case...
::pulls sunglasses off::
...of a Borne Identity.
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!
@Gmork: Too bad the Pharmacist isn't the person who decides what does and does not get sold in the pharmacy.
I filled out the forms for the Airborne refund and never got crap from them. Maybe since this one is an actual paper form, I'll have better luck. I have to admit that I was a sucker for that crap back before I found out that it was all B.S.
I'm pretty sure using a neti pot is helping me withstand colds/flu (and, when I got a cold, made it mild and of short duration).
A lot cheaper than airborne, too.
@atashida:
Just a quick note, but it isn't hard to find research showing that the Neti Pot's claims are bunk.
How do you know that the neti pot "made it mild and of short duration," anyway? Did you see into the future? Did you somehow get a glimpse of both your neti-pot using and neti-pot free selves?
Oh, and a second note: While the Neti Pot's claims are largely bunk, the underlying method is not necessarily so. If you have allergies, obviously removing the allergens from your nasal passages will lessen symptoms. Running water through your nose will not, however, reduce the numbers of virii and bacteria throughout your body.
Most of the Rite aides where I live have closed. i wonde if that is because they are trying to cut down on the number of claims that they will have.
@AngryK9: Not always at all.
The Pharmacy in many stores is what's behind the counter.
The Drug section (as in Food and Drug) is what's out front with all the OtC stuff.
Do you really think the Pharmacist goes over the brands of mouthwash and the shades of Maybelline? Or that even if he wanted to the CVS Pharmacist could block a CVS product from being on his shelves without some kind of repercussion, assuming he has the power (which he doesn't).
Have you ever worked in a grocery store/CVS?
I still use Airborne and other equivalents when I get a cold. I knew before the lawsuit even happened that what the box claimed was crap - all you had to do was look at the back to know it's just a vitamin bomb and nothing more. Still, personally I find that the vitamins do help me - they may not help me get over my cold more quickly, but I feel a little better and have a bit more energy through the ordeal, which is worth it.
Besides, if you drink OJ while you have a cold it's the same thing. Airborne & OJ are just a ton of vitamin c + fluid to help your sickness along. I just tend to stray from the OJ because I have bad teeth & OJ is the equivalent of battery acid on your enamel.
I've actually bought airborne & used it, but not for anything cold/illness related. My stomach used to be upset during long flights, and a fizzy tablet of something citrus-y (or ginger ale) makes me feel much better. Maybe it's all in my head, but it was a pretty convenient way to feel better. I like the tablet containers, also. Nice design.
What I don't understand is why/how Airborne is still sold.. I might be mistaken, but I would swear I still see it on shelves..
@PillowTalk: agreed totally. it's fizzy, tastes ok, and makes me feel a little better. I regard them as liquid vitamin supplements, nothing more, nothing less. exactly as you say, not unlike a glass of orange juice, only without the blood sugar spike.
@glater: And if you're one of them lot who can't stand to drink water, giving it a little fizzy flavour can motivate you to stay extra-hydrated, which is supposed to help you get well. Nothing wrong with that, I say. :)
@floraposte: I think the idea is that a teacher who has to deal all day with grubby, germy, children would have more incentive to develop an effective vitamin cocktail to prevent sickness.
No refund for me. :-(
I didn't buy any snake oil.
Wonder when they're gonna go after the people with the rub on stuff for whatever is bothering you. Headache? Rub this chapstick on your forehead! Chest pain? Rub some of this goop on it! Death? Just rub some of this anti-death cream on it!