Nature’s Bounty Hit with Second Ginkgo Biloba Class Action Lawsuit

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On Nov. 3, another false ad class action lawsuit was filed against NBTY Inc. and Nature’s Bounty Inc. in California federal court for allegedly marketing  their ginkgo biloba extract with false claims of the herbal extract’s positive effects on the brain. This is the second lawsuit concerning ginkgo biloba advertisements filed against the herbal supplement company in recent weeks.

Plaintiff Paige Petkevicius, a San Diego resident, bought Nature’s Bounty Ginkgo Biloba products at her local CVS Pharmacy. She alleges she relied on the product labels and company’s ad “representations regarding the cognitive health, brain function, and memory support of Ginkgo Biloba,” when making her purchases.

According to the Nature’s Bounty Ginkgo Biloba class action lawsuit, “Paige Petkevicius, an avid fitness buff, was seeking a supplement to improve and/or maintain her cognitive function and to improve and/or maintain her memory. She purchased the product believing it would provide the advertised healthy brain function and memory support based upon the product’s representations.”

Since July 15, Petkevicius has allegedly bought Nature’s Bounty Ginkgo Biloba product at least twice and paid about $18 per ginkgo biloba product. During each of these purchases, the ginkgo biloba false ad class action lawsuit states the plaintiff especially relied on product label’s claims that the ginkgo biloba extract “supports healthy brain function” and “helps support memory, especially occasional mild memory problems, associated with aging.” As a result, Petkevicius allegedly suffered injury in fact and lost money by buying the Nature’s Bounty Ginkgo Biloba product.

In this Nature’s Bounty class action lawsuit, Petkevicius alleges that had she known NBTY and Nature’s Bounty had misrepresented their ginkgo biloba supplement, she would not have purchased the product. She further alleges that had she known ginkgo biloba may actually be dangerous to her health by increasing her chance of liver damage or cancer, she never would have purchased Nature’s Bounty product to begin with.

In her ginkgo biloba false ad class action lawsuit, Petkevicius alleges that NBTY and Nature’s Bounty continued to market, package, and label their ginkgo biloba extract product has a brain function and mental alertness enhancing and memory aid despite numerous clinical studies that found the herbal extract to be ineffective in boosting in any of these claims.

Petkevicius is not the only California consumer filing a false ad class action lawsuit against Nature’s Bounty. Another California woman filed a similar Ginkgo Biloba false ad class action lawsuit in late October, alleging she was also deceived when purchasing the herbal extract product.

Petkevicius seeks to represent herself and a Class of “All consumers who purchased the Ginkgo Biloba product in the state of California and states with similar laws, within the applicable statute of limitations, for personal use until the date notice is disseminated,” according to false ad class action lawsuit.

She brings several allegations against NBTY and Nature’s Bounty including violations of the business and professions code, consumer legal remedies act, and breach of express warranty. In this Nature’s Bounty Ginkgo Biloba false ad class action lawsuit, Petkevicius is seeking relief in the form of award of damages for herself and the class, restitution and disgorgement, punitive and statutory damages, declaratory and injunctive relief, a corrective ad campaign, and award of attorney’s fees and court costs.

The Nature’s Bounty Ginkgo Biloba False Ad Class Action Lawsuit is Petkevicius v. NBTY Inc., et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-02616-JM-WVG, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.