Robitussin Buyer Wants Class Cert. in Maximum Strength Lawsuit

A Robitussin customer is seeking Class certification of a Pfizer lawsuit that claims its “maximum strength” cough medication is actually less potent than regular strength Robitussin.

On Thursday, plaintiff Karmel Al Haj asked an Illinois federal judge to certify a nationwide Class of Robitussin buyers who allegedly paid too much for the medication.

According to Al Haj’s lawyer, a class action lawsuit is appropriate for the Pfizer lawsuit.

The attorney argues that “calling a cough medicine ‘Maximum Strength’ to extract a higher price from consumers — when it is weaker than the regular strength version — is a perfect example of why class actions play a vital role in our system. No individual purchase could afford to prove the fraud on their own, but class members were misled by Pfizer and are upset about it.”

According to the Robitussin class action, Pfizer launched a “uniform decision” under the name Project Accelerate to decrease the amount of active ingredients present in a bottle of maximum strength Robitussin.

Allegedly, this was deceptive because the maximum strength Robitussin is more expensive than regular strength Robitussin and consumers are willing to pay more because they believe that they are getting more of the active ingredient.

The Robitussin class action lawsuit argues that “calling the reformulated product ‘Maximum Strength,’ even though the product contained less active ingredients and doses than a bottle of Regular Robitussin, is objectively deceptive. Consumers did not receive the benefit of the bargain or they suffered an out-of-pocket loss.”

Allegedly, the fact that consumers did not receive the benefit of the bargain or suffered an out-of-pocket loss demonstrated that they suffered financial injury because of Pfizer’s conduct.

Al Haj argues that Pfizer violated state protection laws as well as unjust enrichment laws.

She argues that because the profits Pfizer gained from the allegedly mislabeled Robitussin were gained from unethical methods, Pfizer unjustly enriched itself from the sale of the product.

On Friday, with the request for a nationwide Class of consumers to be certified, Al Haj requested that buyers of Maximum Strength Robitussin from a number of states join the case to “protect their interests and those of class members who reside in their respective states.”

This request for Class certification follows two unsuccessful bids by Pfizer to have the Robitussin class action lawsuit dismissed.

Pfizer also fought Al Haj’s request for Class certification on Friday. A Pfizer spokeswoman, argued that Al Haj included the wrong product packaging in her complaint, despite Al Haj’s statement that the product packaging did not vary across states.

Plaintiff’s counsel shot back at this argument stating that though Al Haj started using Delsym, that product that is not labeled maximum strength, so it is “difficult to see how Pfizer thinks her later purchase of a different product will protect the company.”

Al Haj is represented by Elizabeth A. Fegan, Emily R. Brown, Steve W. Berman, and Daniel J. Kurowski of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP and by Darren Malek of Veritas Law Group.

The Pfizer Maximum Strength Robitussin Class Action Lawsuit is Al Haj, et al. v. Pfizer Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-06730, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.