SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Consumer-rights law firm Hagens Berman has filed a class-action lawsuit against some of the country’s largest retailers alleging major fraud in the $6 billion per year herbal supplement market. The suit was filed on behalf of consumers who purchased supplements from GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart that have been found to contain no traces of purported healthful ingredients listed on the supplements’ labels, and in some cases other ingredients not disclosed on the packaging.
“We believe these major retailers have completely abandoned their responsibility to consumers who trust that their products contain what’s listed on the label – not phony pills full of anything but,” said Steve Berman, managing partner at Hagens Berman and attorney representing the class of purchasers. “Millions of consumers across the nation have been duped by GNC, Target, Walmart and Walgreens and have spent years purchasing fake and fraudulent products.”
The 61-page lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois cites GNC, Target, Walgreens and Walmart for “selling certain store brand Herbal Supplements that fail to contain the ingredients that the Defendants represent are contained in the Herbal Supplements, or, that contain other substances which are not disclosed on the packaging for those Herbal Supplements.”
Concerned consumers who purchased any of the following products may contact Hagens Berman by emailing supplements@hbsslaw.com or by calling 206-623-7292. Additional information about the investigation is available at http://www.hbsslaw.com/cases-and-investigations/cases/supplements.
According to a recent study from the New York Attorney General, the following supplements were found to contain either no trace of the following ingredients or very little trace amount:
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GNC: Herbal Plus brand
Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Echinacea, Saw Palmetto -
Target: Up & Up brand
Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Echinacea, Saw Palmetto, Valerian Root -
Walgreens: Finest Nutrition brand
Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea -
Walmart: Spring Valley brand
Gingko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, Saw Palmetto
According to the complaint, “Herbal supplements, also known as ‘botanicals,’ are one of the most commonly consumed nutritional supplements in the United States.” As of 2013, it is estimated that approximately 36 million adults in the United States consume herbal supplements, it states, equaling an increase of 33 percent since 2011.
Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP is a consumer-rights class-action law firm with offices in nine cities. The firm has been named to the National Law Journal’s Plaintiffs’ Hot List seven times. More about the law firm and its successes can be found at www.hbsslaw.com. Follow the firm for updates and news at @ClassActionLaw.
