http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... d=87937907

Airborne Settles Suit over False Claims

Makers of the herbal supplement Airborne have agreed to pay $23.3 million in a class-action lawsuit over false advertising. David Schardt, a senior nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, says it's just one battle in his efforts to prevent companies from making misleading claims.

The spread of Airborne has been something of a national phenomenon, with hopeful consumers reaching for the product that said, "It's the one designed by a school teacher."

But it's also the one, Schardt says, that's been misleading consumers for 10 years. First, he says, Airbone entered the market claiming that its formula — a result of research by second-grade teacher Victoria Knight-McDowell — could ward off colds. Airborne later backed off, reworking its campaign to say the supplement "boosts your immune system."

The problem, Schardt says, is that Airborne didn't have a single shred of evidence to back up either claim. And that's why Schardt was so passionate about leading a class-action lawsuit against the company.

In a recent ruling, science won — but only to a degree, Schardt says. Airborne is admitting no missteps but has agreed to refund the purchase price to people who can show they purchased the tablets. "Defendants deny any wrongdoing or illegal conduct but have agreed to settle the litigation," reads a website set up to give information about the suit.

Consumers are still likely to be misled by the product, Schardt says. He and his teams searched for anyone who had studied Airborne's combination of herbs and vitamins. The company had pointed to one research effort, but that was later revealed to be a two-person project paid for by Airborne. "It was so bad," Schardt says. "The company wouldn't let anyone see it."

Schardt hopes the lessons of Airborne will discourage companies from making claims "until they have evidence that the product works."

What about the many people who swear by Airborne? Anecdotal evidence isn't enough, Schardt says. He says drugs need to offer better results than the placebo effect, where on average one out of three people will say a sugar pill helped them.

Take Vitamin C if you want to boost your immune system, Schardt says. That supplement has been examined extensively, in over 30 studies, with thousands of people all over the world. And the value of the perennial cold treatment? "It doesn't work," Schardt says.

Customers interested in more information about how to receive a refund should log onto http://www.airbornehealthsettlement.com.

Yeah, but that's probably similar to most of the products on the shelves and hell most perscription drugs too.

They are all freaking over marketed and underperforming.

Does it work for everyone... no. Does it work for somepeople or make them feel like it does? Probably. Does the price really matter? no. It's a red herring.

Essentially, this is more about somebody suing another company to get money than anything else.

No pill or herb or whatever is some magic potion that's going to make you invincible to cold. It's an expensive vitamin yup. but you don't have to buy it. The problem is stupid people are allowed to sue other people for their own stupidity.

Gullibility is not a crime.


I mean hell, the last time I went to a hospital I was charged by several doctors none of which spoke to me.. that was reserved for the fucking interns who only wanted my information, the EMT's the Hospital for thier ER room... all for fucking one bag of saline solution. That's the medicine I got. Fucking Saltwater. 3000 dollars worth of salt water. Medicine in general is a fucking scam.

so couldn't just anyone go to their website and file a claim regardless of whether they actually bought the product?
I mean if I bought it last year, do I have to provide a receipt? - what if I paid in cash and have no proof of buying it?

I actually never bought it but I don't understand how people collect on this legitimately, or was it only sold online or tv or what?

i'm about 100 percent sure i read somewhere else than you need a receipt.

exactly.

the settlement, from what i gathered, is for refunds and advertising costs to tell consumers they can, and how to get a refund.

probably not. ibuprofen and aspirin have been tested and shown results. airborne was marketing without any proof of results. people have the right to sue to stop this from happening. you can't trust consumers completely.



so you're OK with a placebo being marketed as a working medicine?



right, and that's all it is. yet airborne marketed that it was much more. again, you can't trust consumers completely.

how many people for whom the product actually worked do you think are going to try to get refunds?

a fair amount. i'm not sure that matters. there's a chance it worked as a placebo, right? do you think people would have wasted $10 on a placebo?

Am I confused or was it marketed as an immunity enhancer? What does that even mean? Hell Orange Juice is an immunity enhancer. Vitamin C.... There's a product called Emergen C or something that provides ridiculous amounts of vitamin C... most of it. Probably Peed out... but for all those hypocondriacs out there... they feel a little better.

I mean it is vitamins. It is "enhancing immunity" as vitamins are known to do it's not harming anyone or it would be a criminal trial. Someone is pissed off that they bought an overrated popular product that people sware by just seems more likely to me.

Next thing you know people are going to sue Viagra and Cealis because... damnit.. they say 4 hour erections in the commercial.

It's freaking 6 dollars a bottle. There are rip off vitamins at GNC that claim the same crap and hell so do all the fat loss pills.... people buying that shit largely don't read the bottles anyway.

They have freaking cartoon viruses attacking cartoon people on the boxes too.... why not go after Flinstones Vitamins... Those viscious children and gullible teacher targeting marketing bastards.

What they rightly should be burning them on is the fake study. That's worth the lawsuit. Lying about all this hoodooo research. I'd take the word of a shaman before I'd trust 90% of American drug companies or medical personel especially the assholes in marketing and sales. I'm more pissed off about the American Drug companies that manufacture all of these expensive drugs over in china where there are NO standards. That's what worries me more.

now it's touted as an immune booster, and even that really not much of a claim, but initially, and for awhile, airborne sold its line of products as a way to prevent and cure colds.

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/ ... ekey=87644

In 2007, the CSPI, which regularly looks at dietary supplements to determine their effects, evaluated Airborne as part of an investigation on cold remedies "and found little or no evidence that the product works," Schardt tells WebMD.

According to Schardt, there is ''no credible evidence" that the Airborne formula can prevent colds or protect people from germy environments.

The idea proposed by the company, that you could take this formula and be instantly protected when you enter an airplane or other closed quarters, is incorrect, Schardt says. "There is nothing you can swallow—no vitamin, no mineral, no herb—that will instantly protect you," he says. "The immune system doesn't work that way."

The formula, while not providing proven protection against colds, may even be hazardous, he adds. It may have too much vitamin A. Two tablets include 10,000 IU of vitamin A, considered the maximum safe daily level, and the company dose instructions advise not exceeding three tablets a day.

I wonder if that zircam stuff or whatever the orange box zinc product is will be also sued soon. I think they have the same kind of marketing. Reduce the length of a cold... something like that.

Funny study came out today. If you give people a placebo that costs $2.50/pill, it kills pain as well as an opiate and better than a placebo that costs $0.10/pill.

http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/st ... ily26.html

This explains why my wife swears by Airbourne.

i haven't memorized the label, so i could be wrong, but i don't think it ever said that it could prevent and/or cure. I've used it many times myself when i felt a cold building up, though i usually go with Walborne, the Wallgreens knock off, which is cheaper and basically the same thing, and it's worked for me most of the time.

here's the original abc news story that prompted the lawsuit:

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/story? ... 514&page=1

Does Airborne Really Stave off Colds?

Feb. 27, 2006

Americans catch a billion colds a year in this country and spend triple that -- almost $3 billion -- trying to treat them.

But a "Good Morning America" drugstore investigation raises questions about one of America's favorite cold remedies -- a product called Airborne.

Victoria Knight-McDowell, the schoolteacher who developed Airborne, appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show." The popular talk-show host even endorsed it as a cold fighter. The product's ads are everywhere, and the company says its sales exceed $100 million.

But now Airborne's CEO, Elise Donahue, is saying that the pill is not a cold remedy.

"I would never sit here and tell you that it's a cure for the common cold," she said. "We don't know if Airborne is a … cure for the common cold. What Airborne does is it helps your body build a healthy immune system. When you have a healthy immune system, then it allows your body, on its own, to fight off germs."

Donahue said the best proof that the product works was that 40,000 customers contact the company every year. But a number of medical experts and watchdog groups are skeptical that Airborne prevents or cures colds.

"Simply washing your hands during cold and flu season is a much more effective way of preventing colds," said David Kroll, a pharmacologist at Duke University Medical School.

Yet the Airborne box tells users to take the product at the first sign of a cold. An Airborne ad testimonial called it a miracle cold buster. And the company said in a news release Airborne would get rid of most colds in one hour.

"I'm not commenting on that particular press release," Donahue said. "I wasn't with the company then."

Airborne said that a double-blind, placebo-controlled study was conducted with "care and professionalism" by a company specializing in clinical trial management, GNG Pharmaceutical Services.

GNG is actually a two-man operation started up just to do the Airborne study. There was no clinic, no scientists and no doctors. The man who ran things said he had lots of clinical trial experience. He added that he had a degree from Indiana University, but the school says he never graduated.

"I would not define that then as a clinical trial," Kroll said.

Airborne insists the results are valid, but the company is removing all references to the study from its Web site and packaging.

"We found that it confused consumers," Donahue said. "Consumers are really not scientifically minded enough to be able to understand a clinical study."

Now, Airborne is phasing in new packaging. Before, the box said that Knight-McDowell had created it because she was "sick of catching colds." Now, it says she created Airborne because she "needed help supporting her immune system." The word "cold" no longer appears on the new package or in the advertising.

All the new packages will be on store shelves by this summer.

the above story would indicate they changed the labels in 2006 -- roughly 10 years after it hit shelves.

Well if it did in fact claim at some point that it could prevent and cure, then they're obviously in the wrong. Also, Donahue sounds like a tool who has no clue what the company stands for

but again, i'm probably biased since the product actually has helped me a lot.

People are dumb...if you are gonna get sick you are gonna get sick...no magic pill or flu shot is gonna make a difference....I gotta go...it's time for my penis growing pills....

Oh yeah, there's no science on the flu shot.

I think the key is that Airbourne is an "herbal supplement." They're under no obligation to prove their product works.