Physician’s Choice Class Action Says Post-Workout Supplement is Falsely Advertised

A class action lawsuit claims that the makers of Physician’s Choice supplements falsely advertise the brand’s “post-workout” collagen supplement as containing 12 percent of an average person’s daily protein requirement.

Lead plaintiff Katrina McLaughlin says that Physician’s Choice Collagen Peptides are made with collagen from beef, but they lack an essential amino acid and therefore don’t provide a complete protein.

Collagen is a recently popularized nutritional supplement. According to Healthline, it makes up most of the protein found in the human body and is a part of connective tissue and skin.

Although collagen supplements may be helpful, the nutritional supplement market is largely unregulated, making it difficult for a consumer to know if the product they spend their money on is actually working.

“All collagen, including the collagen in the Product, lacks one of the nine essential amino acids (tryptophan) and thus collagen does not provide a complete protein,” contends the Physician’s Choice class action lawsuit. “According to the Food and Drug Administration (‘FDA’) testing methodology for protein content and reporting of Daily Value percentages, hydrolyzed collagen has a protein Daily Value percentage of zero because it is an incomplete protein.”

According to the class action lawsuit, the plaintiff purchased the Physician’s Choice Collagen Peptides product after reading the nutrition label that also indicated that the nutritional supplement contained six grams of protein. In fact, McLaughlin says she went a step further and reviewed the product’s website before making the purchase.

She says that there was no way she or other consumers could have known that Physician’s Choice Collagen Peptides supplement did not contain proteins with a complete set of amino acids.

“JB7 makes protein claims on the Product label and in marketing the Product. For example, the label claims it is ‘5X more effective’ and is ‘Formulated for hair, nails, skin [and] bones,’” notes the complaint. “Marketing claims include touting the Product as ‘the ultimate sports and post workout recovery protein,’ and ‘Just having extra protein in your life is so important, especially for busy moms.’”

McLaughlin, a Florida resident, says that she and consumers nationwide would not have purchased or paid as much for JB7’s Physician’s Choice Collagen Peptides supplement had they known the product did not contain protein.

“Plaintiff and the Class paid substantially more than the market value represented by the price bargained for,” argues the Physician’s Choice class action lawsuit. “Plaintiff and the Class bargained with JB7 on a particular market value for a product purporting to provide 12% of the Daily Value of protein. But because the Product does not provide 12% of the Daily Value of protein, Plaintiff and the Class effectively paid a higher price than that reflected in the market price to which they and JB7 had agreed, and they received a Product that was of less value than JB7 promised.”

The plaintiff seeks to represent a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased Physician’s Choice Collagen Peptides, along with a Florida subclass.

The class action lawsuit is seeking damages, as well as a court order stopping JB7 from its allegedly deceptive marketing practices.

Have you taken a supplement that was falsely advertised? Tell your story in the comments!

The plaintiff is represented by Matthew D. Schultz, William F. Cash, III, and Brenton Goodman of Levin Papantonio Thomas Mitchell Rafferty & Proctor PA, and Abbas Kazerounian, Ryan McBride, Jason Ibey, and Nicholas Barthel of Kazerouni Law Group PLC.

The Physician’s Choice Collagen Peptides Class Action Lawsuit is McLaughlin v. JB7 LLC, Case No. 1:19-cv-23748-RNS, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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