LOS ANGELES – (August 22, 2012) Baron and Budd attorneys filed a deceptive labeling class action lawsuit today against Abbott Laboratories concerning the company’s “Ensure Muscle Health” and “Ensure Clinical Strength” products. The lawsuit alleges that Abbott Laboratories engages in deceptive and misleading practices in connection with the marketing of its products and charges the company with violations of multiple laws. The complaint was filed on behalf of Michael J. Otto of California and a class of similarly situated consumers across the country who purchased Ensure Muscle Health or Ensure Clinical Strength drinks. Baron and Budd attorneys Roland Tellis and Mark Pifko serve as counsel in the lawsuit.
According to the complaint, Abbott capitalizes on the fears of mature Americans who are worried about muscle loss, promising that drinking the products alone will “help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time.” To build consumer trust, Abbott touts the purported health benefits of these products with invented, pseudo-scientific terms such as “Revigor,” and proclamations like, the “#1 doctor recommended brand,” the lawsuit states. As alleged in the lawsuit, to further establish credibility for the company’s claims, Abbot also uses phrases such as “clinical nutrition.”
However, as alleged in the lawsuit, nowhere on the packaging of the products does Abbott disclose that the products cannot help rebuild muscle and strength in the general population of consumers to whom the products are sold — including in Abbott’s target market of healthy adults — unless the products are used in combination with a regular exercise program. Instead, Abbott chose to selectively omit this material information from the labels for the Products to increase sales by inducing the general population of consumers who will not benefit from the products to purchase and consume them anyway, the lawsuit states.
“It’s hard to imagine a more personal affront than deceiving people about what they put in their bodies,” said Baron and Budd attorney Mark Pifko. “A sophisticated company like Abbott should be held accountable for knowingly confusing and misleading its customers.”
Baron and Budd is a nationally recognized plaintiffs’ law firm with more than 30 years’ experience fighting to protect what’s right for consumers. The firm prides itself on remaining on the cutting-edge of meaningful litigation that protects consumers from negligent companies. Last year, Baron and Budd served on the plaintiffs’ steering committee in the Bank of America bank overdraft fee litigation that resulted in a $410 million settlement for consumers and forced Bank of America and other financial institutions to change overdraft fee policies. Since its expansion in 2011, the firm’s Los Angeles office has taken the lead on a number of high profile consumer lawsuits, including cases against companies in the banking, automotive and food product industries.
To learn more about the Ensure lawsuit, visit the firm’s website at http://www.baronandbudd.com
Tagged Deceptive Advertising, Ensure, Mark Pifko, Roland Tellis
