CHATTEM INC. ; SANOFI INC.
Defendant Name: RUTHIE MARTIN, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated
Case Number: 1·9sf CV17036
Court: SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
Practice Area: Class Action
Status: Active; Jury Trial Demanded
Date Filed: 05/16/2019
Documents: Original Complaint (PDF)
Attorneys Involved: Brian Chase, Jerusalem Beligan, Ian M. Silvers
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Details of the Chattem Inc Class Action (Icy Hot)
This is a putative class action for damages and equitable relief against Defendants relating to their formulation, manufacture, testing, marketing, promotion, distribution, and sale of their defective topical pain relief product: ICY HOT MEDICATED NO MESS APPLICATOR (the “ICY HOT APPLICATOR” or the “Defective Product”).
The ICY HOT APPLICATOR is a topical pain relief product manufactured and sold by Defendants in California and made popular by the way Defendants market the product, including the notable packaging—the trusted bright and colorful eye-catching and well known ICY HOT logo. In addition, Defendants advertise in various channels, including through social media and television commercials with movie celebrity and ex-NBA player Shaquille O’Neal, who endorses the product.
Defendants market and advertise the ICY HOT Applicator as a “Long Lasting Pain Relief” applicator (emphasis added). They further market and advertise it as containing “Maximum Strength” “Pain Reliving Liquid” (emphasis added).
CLASS ACTION ALLEGATIONS
As alleged above, Defendants manufacture, market, and sell the ICY HOT APPLICATOR to citizens in California. Packaged in widely recognized, brightly colored ICY HOT logo, the Defective Product is sold for approximately $5.48 per 2.5 ounces. Consumers who are seeking immediate and temporary pain relief are attracted by the eye-catching packaging.
Once lured in, the packaging claims (in all-caps and bold lettering) that it contains “MAXIMUM STRENGTH” “PAIN RELIEVING LIQUID” that is not only “Powerful” and “Fast Acting,” but (in bold, all caps, and red lettering) provides “LONG LASTING PAIN RELIEF.”
Defendants’ website reiterates the claims on the Defective Product’s packaging: the ICY HOT APPLICATOR contains a “Maximum Strength” “Pain Relieving Liquid” that provides “Long Lasting Pain Relief.”
“I used this product twice on my lower back and I would never use it again. The second time I used it I started feeling this burning sensation. My daughter looked at my lower back and told me it looked as if I had burned myself. I followed the directions and could not believe this was happening to me. In the past I have used similar products and have never had a problem. My lower back looks as if it was burned. It started out as a dark mark on the right side of my lower back and over the last few days as the dead skin comes off my lower back is pink in color. I would never use this or any of their products again.”
