Posts Tagged ‘ Homeopathic remedy ’

Oscillo Flu Relief Settlement Preliminary Approval: Here’s What To Do

May 26th, 2012. By AbiK

Remember this one? The Oscillo Flu Relief false advertising class action? Or, for those of you who can pronounce it, the Oscillococcinum class action lawsuit…which basically alleged that a couple of homeopathic ingredients and sugar may not actually do a blessed thing (expect perhaps a placebo effect) on curing or diminishing your flu symptoms.

Well, the class action lawsuit was actually against Boiron and it covered more than Oscillo. Now, it’s got a preliminary approval on its settlement. So here we go with the settlement details…

Am I part of the Oscillo Flu Relief Class Action Settlement?

You are if you purchased Oscillococcinum, Children’s Oscillococcinum, Arnicare, Quietude, Camilia, Coldcalm and ‘other products manufactured by Boiron’ between Jan. 1, 2000 and the present. You’re NOT a part of the class for this settlement if you were a California resident whose only purchase of a Boiron product was of Children’s Coldcalm in California after August 31, 2006.

What do I get as part of the Oscillo Flu Relief Class Action Settlement?

As with all class action settlements, the amount each class member receives will be contingent on how many claimants (ie, class members) submit a claim form. However, class members who file timely and valid claims (see below) are eligible to receive up to $100.00 per household.

For this settlement, a settlement fund of $5 million is being set up to pay claims to eligible Class Members, attorneys’ fees and costs, and the notice and claims administration costs. Boiron (the company that makes Oscillo) is also agreeing to make certain changes to the manner in which it advertises the products involved in the class action lawsuit.

What do I have to do now?

Here are your options to…

Submit a Claim: Do not submit a claim here at LawyersandSettlements.com. You can submit your Oscillo claim form at the claims administrator’s website here: http://www.gilardi.com/boironsettlement/FileClaim.

Otherwise, you will need to send in a completed claim form and, if available, proof of purchase of the applicable Boiron products you’ve purchased to the Claims Administrator (address shown below). Your claim must be postmarked no later than 45 days after the date the Court enters the Judgment.

The Court will hold a hearing on August 13, 2012 at 2:30 p.m. at the federal courthouse at 940 Front Street, Courtroom 11, San Diego, CA 92101, to consider final approval of the Boiron settlement, including payment of reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs to Class Counsel related to obtaining the settlement relief, an incentive award to each of the named Plaintiffs, and related issues.

Object to the Settlement: If you want to object to the Oscillo settlement you have to file a written statement with the Court and serve a copy on Class Counsel, Counsel for Defendants and the Claims Administrator, postmarked by July 14, 2012. Instructions for how to object are explained in the detailed notice at www.gilardi.com/boironsettlement.

Exclude yourself from the Settlement: If you do not want to be bound by the settlement, you must send a letter to the Claims Administrator at the address below requesting to be excluded. The letter must be postmarked by July 14, 2012. If you exclude yourself, you cannot receive a benefit from this settlement, but you can sue the manufacturer of the Products for the claims alleged in this lawsuit. If you do not exclude yourself from the settlement or do nothing, you will be bound by the Court’s decisions.

For more information and to obtain a detailed notice, claim form, list of Products, or other documents, visit www.gilardi.com/boironsettlement or call, toll-free, 877-256-3879, or write to Boiron Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 8060, San Rafael, CA 94912-8060.

Tags: Boiron, Class Action Lawsuit, Consumer Fraud, false advertising, Homeopathic remedy, Oscillo Flu Relief Settlement
Posted in Class Action, Consumer Fraud, Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues, Settlement | No Comments »

Channeling Picasso for Oscillo Flu Relief Fraud?

January 11th, 2012. By AbiK

Picasso must be rolling in his grave at Château de Vauvenargues. That is, if he’s seen the latest round of homeopathic ‘remedy’, Oscillo, flu symptom relief ads. Yes, the same Oscillo that found itself on the receiving end of a class action lawsuit last August for fraudulent marketing—something about its being “nothing more than a sugar pill.”

Well, those Oscillo (or Oscillococcinum) marketers over at Boiron, which has its US headquarters not far out of Philly, must’ve taken a field trip when the Picasso exhibit was at the Philadelphia Museum of Art—and in a flash of creative genius someone said, “that Picasso right there…it’s the embodiment of the being…completely ensnared by flu…just feel the incoherence begging for clarity!” Ah yes, the germ of an ad campaign, right then and there. Just add water.

That’s the ad at left. You can see it has an illustration of a woman, clearly a bit discombobulated a’la Picasso, that’s meant to show how she’s suffering from flu symptoms. Woe is she, indeed.

But then, she takes homeopathic Oscillo and before you know it, everything is clear, a gentle breeze flows through her hair and she smiles as she takes in the great outdoors around her, lake and all.

There’s this little splotch of text, however, under the “after” picture. It reads,

“Time-accelerated dramatization.”

Hmm.

Are they for real? I hope someone (namely the art and copy team on this) had a good laugh. Sure it’s there as a legal disclaimer, but it’s a cartoon folks. I’m thinking we, as readers of the ad, would first have to believe that some parallel cartoon reality actually existed—like in Mary Poppins when they all hop into the sidewalk drawing—in order to expect cartoon-like results in our normal reality. Tracking with me?

But the American public is not that stupid.

Nor is it foolish when it comes to reading package labels. Here’s what the Oscillococcinum one has on its back (forgive the resolution):

Active Ingredient: Anas Barbariae Hepatis et Cordis Extractum 200CK HPUS; Inactive ingredients: sucrose, lactose.

Now, if you whip out your Cassell’s Latin Dictionary, you’ll find that the active ingredient is extract of duck liver and heart. The 200CK means that its gone through a series of 200 dilutions—with each one equating a 1:100 dilution. If you do the math, the level of “active ingredient” would seem to get rather miniscule, leaving almost…nothing. (In fact, the court filing for the Oscillo class action states that, given the dilution, “At this purported ratio, the probability of getting 1 molecule of the active ingredient of Oscillo in a regular dosage is approximately equal to winning the Powerball every week for nearly an entire year.” Someone has a sense of humor!)

For those who missed basic nutrition class, the inactive ingredients, sucrose and lactose are sugars.

Nothing—or almost nothing—and sugar is, well, sugar. Which is the basis for the Oscillo false marketing class action lawsuit.

I suppose Boiron deserves some kudos for creativity—on both fronts, product development and advertising. But that’ll only go so far to “reduce the duration and severity of flu symptoms” including body aches, headache, fever, chills and fatigue. And exactly how far is what the class action will determine now.

Tags: Boiron, Consumer Fraud, false advertising, Homeopathic remedy, Homeopathy, homeopathy-remedy-fraud, Oscillo, Oscillococcinum
Posted in Class Action, Consumer Fraud, Emerging Issues | 7 Comments »

LAS Lookout: Fastin Weight Loss Ad – Read the Small Print

January 5th, 2012. By AbiK

Note to self: when a one-page ad in a magazine has 12 daggers—those are those “†” symbols that lead you to some teeny-tiny footnote disclaimer—pause to ponder what the ad is really telling you.

It’s important as now that we’re in flu season, we’re seeing more and more homeopathic ‘remedy’ ads popping up with questionable claims and the telling footnote or two.

The 12-dagger ad above is actually a recent ad for Fastin, “the world’s most advanced weight loss aid ever developed!†” (there’s that dagger!). The ad appeared in Self magazine. And yes, it has 12—no joke, twelve—daggers in it, all leading to the footnote below. Don’t believe it? They’re all circled on the actual ad above.

Just about everything but where to buy Fastin has a dagger leading you to the disclaimer (the disclaimer is reprinted below.

In fact, even the doctor’s statement has the disclaimer. And there’s another tip-off to something potentially askew: try to locate some quick background info on Dr. Mark Wright. You can’t. Oh sure, he has his own website, but try to find him on doctor rating sites like RealSelf.com, Vitals.com, Avvo.com, or HealthGrades.com. He’s not there. He’s also not showing up as

Tags: Dr. Mark Wright, false advertising, Fastin, Homeopathic remedy, Homeopathy, homeopathy-remedy-fraud, weight loss
Posted in Consumer Fraud, Drugs/Medical | 1 Comment »