Class Action Lawsuit: Dollar General ‘Infant Formula’ Pain Reliever a Scam

A Florida dad and grandad filed a class action lawsuit against Dollar General’s parent company this month after he realized the store brand’s acetaminophen products for infants and children are the same in virtually every way — except for price.

David Levy claims Dolgencorp LLC violated state and federal consumer laws by overcharging parents for its DG Infants’ Pain and Fever Relief medication and labeling the product in a way that makes it seem to be specially formulated. In fact, Levy says the medicine is the same as the DG Children’s Pain and Fever Relief, but Dollar General charges three times as much for it.

Levy filed his class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Sept. 15.

The Dollar General pain relievers for infants and children are both liquid and contain the same 160mg of acetaminophen per dose, and call for the same dosage amount, Levy’s class action lawsuit says. The infants’ medicine is packaged in a 2-ounce bottle, and the children’s in an 8-ounce bottle.

“[The products] are interchangeable, and are therefore suitable for infants and children, adjusting the dosage based only on the weight and age of the child,” Levy is arguing in his Dollar General class action lawsuit.

But parents and others who are caring for babies are deceived by the labeling and marketing of Dollar General’s infant pain reliever into thinking it is customized for infants only.

“No reasonable consumer would pay approximately three times more for infants’ products … unless he or she was deceived into thinking that infants cannot safely take the children’s products,” the class action lawsuit says.

Before 2011, acetaminophen-based pain relievers for infants were specially formulated at a concentration of 80mg of acetaminophen per 1mL of liquid. That represented a much higher concentration than was in the children’s products — 160mg per 5mL – but the infant pain reliever dosage smaller.

Reports of infant and child deaths due to confusion among parents about proper dosing led the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to change its guidelines in 2011 to set the standard concentration for children’s and infant pain reliever dosage at the previous children’s level.

“The potential risks associated with acetaminophen overdose terrifies parents and causes them to be extra careful when buying medicine for their children,” the Dollar General class action lawsuit says. “Dollar General exploits this fear by misleading consumers.”

The Dollar General pain reliever case is the latest in a string of similar class action lawsuits brought against retailers for their handling of infant and children’s acetaminophen products.

Earlier this month, two California parents filed a class action lawsuit against Walmart in federal court, alleging the retail giant’s Equate brand of infant pain reliever is overpriced and deceptively marketed.

Chandler McFall and Kailey McDonald said their babies needed pain relief last year and when the parents went to Walmart to shop for it, they found Equate Infants’ Pain & Fever Acetaminophen. Packaged and labeled the way it was, the parents said they believed the medicine was specifically formulated for babies and that its unique composition was the reason it cost nearly twice the price of the “Children’s” version.

In fact, the two products are the same, and the customers are suing.

Another California woman filed a nearly identical class action lawsuit against Walmart in July over the Equate acetaminophen for infants.

Yet another California mom filed a class action lawsuit in July over Kroger Co.‘s high pricing and misleading labeling of its store brand of acetaminophen for infants.

And a woman from New York brought similar claims in a class action lawsuit filed against Rite Aid in July.

In the Dollar General pain reliever class action lawsuit, Levy is seeking to represent himself and a potential Class of at least 100 other customers who purchased the DG Infants’ Pain and Fever Relief in Florida. He is pursuing a judgment of more than $5 million against Dolgencorp.

Have you ever purchased Dollar General’s store brand of infant acetaminophen because your baby was in pain or had a fever? Have you purchased another store’s infant acetaminophen? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Lead plaintiff Levy and the proposed Class Members are represented by Rachel Dapeer of Dapeer Law PA, Andrew J. Shamis of Shamis & Gentile PA, Scott Edelsberg of Edelsberg Law PA and Melissa S. Weiner of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP.

The Dollar General Pain Reliever Class Action Lawsuit is David Levy, et al. v. DolGenCorp LLC, et al., Case No. 3:20-cv-01037, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

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