CVS Class Action Says Sport 100+ Sunscreen Spray Is Falsely Advertised

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CVS Pharmacy Inc. is facing a false advertising class action lawsuit accusing it of deceiving consumers by selling CVS Sport 100+ sunscreen that only provides SPF 26 protection, barely above the minimum recommended level of SPF protection.

SPF value is reportedly calculated by comparing the amount of time it takes for a person not wearing sun protection to burn compared with the amount of time it takes that person to burn while wearing sunscreen.

“Consumers have learned to associate higher SPF values with greater sun protection,” plaintiff Alexander Forouzesh of Los Angeles alleges in the CVS sunscreen class action lawsuit. “Consumers reasonably assume that a product with a SPF of 100+ (like CVS Sport 100+ Product Sunscreen) provides more UVB protection than that of another sunscreen product with a SPF lower than 100.”

However, CVS Sport 100+ sunscreen allegedly provides only SPF 26 protection and provides none of the protection that the labels claim the product provides, the CVS sunscreen class action lawsuit alleges.

Forouzesh points to language on the sunscreen container indicating the lotion provides UVA/UVB protection with “Broad Spectrum SPF 100+” and that the sunscreen spray offers “quick and easy no-rub coverage with broad-spectrum protection for people with active lifestyles.”

According to the CVS sunscreen class action lawsuit, scientific studies have established that sunscreens with higher than SPF 50 offer no additional benefit to consumers.

“SPF 100 blocks 99 percent of UV rays while SPF 50 blocks 98 percent, an immaterial difference that yields no clinical benefit to consumers,” the CVS sunscreen class action lawsuit says.

Forouzesh asserts that CVS was aware, or should have been aware, that the CVS Sport 100+ sunscreen does not provide the advertised UV protection. Despite this awareness, CVS has allegedly made deceptive claims about the sunscreen through advertising inserts, online, and on the CVS Sport 100+ sunscreen labels.

Forouzesh filed the CVS class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and a proposed Class of consumers who purchased CVS Sport 100+ sunscreen. He seeks to stop CVS from continuing to disseminate allegedly false, misleading and deceptive messaging about the product and an order requiring the company to correct the false perception it has created about the product.

According to the CVS sunscreen class action lawsuit, Forouzesh relied on the claims on the CVS Sport 100+ sunscreen label when he made the decision to purchase the product. He thought he was purchasing a powerful sunscreen that would allow his niece and nephews to be protected from harmful UVB rays while they ran around outside.

However, the CVS Sport 100+ sunscreen spray, which Forouzesh allegedly purchased for $9.99, did not provide proportionally higher sun protection as indicated on the label. Forouzesh would not have purchased the product if he had known the truth about CVS’ misrepresentations and omissions, the CVS class action lawsuit says.

Forouzesh is represented by Justin Farahi and Raymond M. Collins of Farahi Law Firm APC.

The CVS Sport 100+ Sunscreen Class Action Lawsuit is Alexander Forouzesh v. CVS Pharmacy Inc., Case No. 2:17-cv-08375-FMO-SS, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Western Division.