Ginkgold False Ad Class Action Survives Motion to Dismiss

A Ginkgold false advertising class action against Nature’s Way and parent company Schwabe ginkgo biloba supplements will move forward after largely surviving a motion to dismiss.

The Ginkgold class action lawsuit alleges that the statements on the packaging for Nature’s Way ginkgo biloba supplement—that it increases “mental sharpness” and “memory and concentration”—are false advertising. According to the complaint, scientific studies have found no connection between ginkgo biloba and increased mental function.

Plaintiff Kathleen Sonner alleges in the ginkgo biloba class action lawsuit that she purchased a Nature’s Way Ginkgold supplement in August of 2014 based on those statements, and that had she “known the truth about Defendants’ misrepresentations and omissions, she would not have purchased Ginkgold.”

The defendants Nature’s Way and Schwabe tried to get this class action lawsuit dismissed, arguing that their Ginkgold packaging had changed in 2013, and Sonner was unsure which product packaging she had purchased.

However, on Nov. 18, U.S. District Court Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled that Sonner stated a plausible case against either the new or old packaging: “Accepting these allegations as true, the Court finds these representations are likely to deceive a reasonable consumer into believing the product will help his or her cognitive functioning.”

There are several products that are part of the Ginkgold false advertising class action lawsuit. Nature’s Way sells Ginkgold in containers of 50, 75, 100, and 150 tablets, and Ginkgold Max, sold in quantities of 30 or 60 tablets. In the original complaint, Sonner states that she purchased a bottle of 150 Ginkgold tablets for $20.00.

Nature’s Way and Schwabe also argued that Sonner could not represent a potential class action against Ginkgold Max, because she had only purchased their Ginkgold product. Sonner replied that since “both Ginkgold products are sold using the same advertising and labeling messages,” the case against both products would be the same. In the court’s order, Judge Phillips agreed with Sonner, and denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss on this issue.

The Ginkgold class action lawsuit points to scientific studies which found that “Ginkgo biloba has no cognitively enhancing effects [either] in younger nor in older healthy subjects: There are no positive effects on vigilance, attention, reaction time or higher cognitive functioning such as memory.” Nature’s Way and Schwabe tried to argue that those studies were of ginkgo biloba, not of their “proprietary blend” of Ginkgold. However, this argument also failed.

Judge Phillips dismissed one part of the Gingold false advertising class action lawsuit in her order. In the complaint, Sonner sought damages for everyone who purchased Ginkgold supplements based on its false advertising, and injunctive relief to stop Nature’s Way and Schwabe from selling Ginkgold using the misleading statements about increased “mental sharpness” and “memory and concentration.” Judge Phillips ruled that since Sonner had no plans to ever purchase Ginkgold again, she could not ask for injunctive relief.

Sonner is represented by Timothy G. Blood, Thomas J. O’Reardon II, and Sarah Boot of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon LLP, and Todd D. Carpenter of Carpenter Law Group.

The Ginkgold False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Sonner, et al. v. Schwabe North America Inc., et al., Case No. EDCV 15-01358-VAP (SPx), in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

UPDATE: On Sept. 14, 2016, Class certification was proposed in a Ginkgold lawsuit that accuses the makers of the ginkgo biloba supplement of falsely promoting it as benefiting brain health in ways it actually doesn’t.

UPDATE: On February 2, 2017, the court granted summary judgement in favor of the defendant, putting an end to the Nature’s Way Ginkgold class action lawsuit.