CVS Class Action Alleges ‘Flu Relief’ is Essentially Sugar Pills

CVS Health Corp. faces a putative class action lawsuit from a customer who claims the deceptive packaging on CVS Flu Relief misled her into spending nearly $17 for what are essentially sugar pills.

Plaintiff Heather Saal says she purchased the flu relief tablets based on the label claims that the sole active ingredient “reduces the duration & severity of flu-like symptoms such as fever, aches, pains & chills.”

The CVS class action lawsuit states that Saal experienced no actual benefits because the homeopathic medicine is actually made up of sugar and water.

According to the plaintiff, CVS Flu Relief’s active ingredient (Anas Barbariae) is a combination of duck hearts and livers. However, Saal says that the way the ingredient is prepared requires a process that mixes one percent of the chemical with 99 percent distilled water, and then that process is repeated hundreds of times. She says that by the end of this procedure there is nothing left of the initial ingredient.

“There is no mathematical/statistical possibility that even a single molecule of the original substance, Anas Barbariae, is in the final dilution,” the class action states. “In short, Anas Barbariae 200CK is water and Defendant is placing this water on sugar pellets and selling them as a remedy for flu-like symptoms.”

Saal states that the flu relief product is available throughout CVS stores nationwide. The complaint claims that the homeopathic flu remedy is sold in 12 dosages for an average of $20.99.

According to the lawsuit, the message conveyed on the CVS product informs customers that the product will “temporarily relieve flu-symptoms and reduce the duration and severity of flu-like symptoms simply by taking the recommended 3 doses of Flu Relief every twenty-four hours. It does not.”

The plaintiff claims that CVS is in violation of Unfair Competition Law, Business & Professions Code, and similar laws in other states that prohibit false or misleading advertising. Saal wants a jury to decide if the representations on the box of CVS Flu Relief are likely to deceive a reasonable consumer. 

She believes that the result of this deception meant that CVS was able to collect unjust revenue and profit at the expense of fraudulent practices

If approved, the CVS Flu Relief class action lawsuit would be open to two types of Class Members. There will be a multi-state Class who would be comprised of consumers who purchased the CVS product in California and states with similar laws; as well as a California-only Class which includes individuals who purchased CVS Flu Relief in the State of California.

Saal is represented by Patricia N. Syverson and Manfred P. Muecke of Bonnett Fairbourn Friedman & Balint PC, and Stewart M. Weltman and Max A. Stein of Boodell & Domanskis LLC.

The CVS Flu Relief False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Heather Saal v. CVS Health Corp., Case No. 3:16-cv-00968, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.