Supplement Makers to Settle Wellesse Glucosamine Class Action Lawsuit

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Botanical Laboratories Inc. and Schwabe North America Inc. have agreed to pay $3.1 million to settle a class action lawsuit alleging they misled consumers about the joint health benefits provided by its Wellesse Joint Movement Glucosamine products.

Plaintiffs Ed Hazlin and Karen Albence, together with the defendants, filed a memorandum in support of their joint motion for preliminary approval of the glucosamine supplement class action settlement. “The proposed Settlement satisfies the standard for preliminary approval, as there is no question as to its fairness, reasonableness and adequacy, placing it squarely within the range of possible approval,” their motion states.

The Wellesse class action lawsuit alleged the defendants undertook an extensive nationwide advertising campaign in order to represent that one ounce of the Wellesse joint supplement per day would improve joint health, protect and rebuild cartilage, and improve mobility and flexibility. The defendants also allegedly advertised that consumers would feel the benefits from the glucosamine supplement within a week.

The plaintiffs further allege that the main ingredients in the joint health supplement – glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate – perform no better than a placebo at improving joint stiffness and pain.

Botanical Laboratories and Schwabe have denied the allegations and maintains that the statements on the Wellesse glucosamine supplement packaging were not false or misleading. However, they agreed to settle the joint health supplement class action lawsuit to avoid the expense and uncertainty of ongoing litigation.

Under the terms of the proposed false advertising class action settlement, the supplement makers will remove the allegedly deceptive language from its product labels for at least three years and reimburse consumers for the Wellesse products they purchased. If the joint health supplement class action settlement is approved, consumers who purchased Wellesse Joint Movement Glucosamine before May 21, 2014 will be eligible to submit a claim for each bottle of the supplement they purchased.

According to the Wellesse JMG class action settlement documents, eligible Class Members will be entitled to receive a payment for up to $15 for each 16 ounce bottle of the supplement purchased and up to $18 for each 33 ounce bottle of Wellesse JMG purchased. Class Members may receive up to $100 from the class action settlement. If the amount of claims exceeds the net class action settlement fund, the awards may be reduced on a pro rata basis.

More information about the Wellesse Joint Movement Glucosamine class action settlement was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by Todd D. Carpenter of the Carpenter Law Group and James R. Patterson of the Patterson Law Group.

The Wellesse Glucosamine Supplement Class Action Lawsuit is Hazlin v. Botanical Laboratories LLC, et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-00618, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On Feb. 4, 2016, Wellesse Joint Movement Glucosamine consumers reported that checks from the class action settlement were mailed out! Class Members received checks as much $609.13. If you filed a claim for the Glucosamine joint supplement class action lawsuit settlement, keep checking your mailbox you may receive your payout soon!