Walgreens Hit with Class Action Lawsuit over Glucosamine Supplement Claims

Walgreens Hit with Class Action Lawsuit over Glucosamine Supplement Claims 

By Courtney Coren

Another class action lawsuit was filed against the drugstore chain Walgreen Co. on Monday, claiming that its glucosamine products are able to “rebuild cartilage” even though the lawsuit alleges that is “physically and biologically impossible.”

The class action lawsuit filed by Florida resident Marc Group is similar to another one that was filed in New York federal court. The New York lawsuit is challenging claims that Walgreen labels its joint supplement products to indicate that the two main ingredients — glucosamine and chondroitin — are naturally occurring substances found in cartilage.

In his class action lawsuit, Group claims that he purchased Walgreen’s Glucosamine Chondroitin MSM Complex Caplets at a Walgreens drugstore in Boca Raton, Florida in August 2012. He said that he bought the supplement based on the claim on the label that it helps to “rebuild cartilage.” Group says that the rebuilding cartilage claim is “false and misleading,” and he cites several studies to make his point.

“Since, 2004, multiple clinical studies have found that glucosamine and chondroitin, alone or in combination, are not effective in providing the represented joint health benefits,” the class action lawsuit states.

According to the class action lawsuit, one study published in the American Journal of Medicine in 2004 found that “glucosamine was no more effective than a placebo” in treating arthritis in knee. Another 2008 study found the same.

A 2010 study published in the British Medical Journal “concluded that those compounds neither reduced joint pain nor had an impact on the narrowing of joint space.”

Group added that there are only two studies that glucosamine and chondroitin are beneficial, and they were “sponsored by a glucosamine supplement manufacturer.”

“Walgreens thus lacks a reasonable basis to represent to consumer that its products rebuild cartilage,” Group’s class action lawsuit states. “In fact, it is medically impossible to rebuild cartilage that has been damaged or destroyed simply by taking glucosamine and/or chondroitin supplements, however formulated.”

Although a federal judge has allowed the New York class action lawsuit against Walgreen to proceed, he was not sure the studies cited supported the claim that it is “biologically impossible” to “rebuild cartilage.”

Group is charging Walgreen with violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, which is a violation of express warranties, and the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.

The plaintiff is represented by R. Bruce Carlson and Carlos R. Diaz of Carlson Lynch Ltd. and by Benjamin J. Sweet and Edwin J. Kilpela Jr. of Del Sole Cavanaugh Stroyd LLC.

The Walgreen Glucosamine Supplement Class Action Lawsuit is Group v. Walgreen Co., Case No. 9:13-cv-81105, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

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