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Attorney General Gansler Reaches Settlement with
Airborne
Company Agrees to Stop Making Unsubstantiated Claims
BALTIMORE,
MD (December 16, 2008) - Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced today
that his Consumer Protection Division,
along with consumer protection agencies from 27 other states and
the District of Columbia, entered into an Agreed Final Judgment
with Airborne Health, Inc. and Airborne Holdings, Inc., and the
owners of both companies, Victoria Knight-McDowell and Thomas John
McDowell, regarding their marketing of “Airborne” products.
The companies’ original Airborne product is one of the most
commonly sold cough and cold products by major retailers in the
last two years. Under the settlement, the companies and their owners
did not admit any wrongdoing. The Attorney General alleges that
the companies and their owners made claims Airborne could prevent
or diminish colds and otherwise fights germs that have not been
scientifically proven.
“Companies cannot make claims about health products unless
they have credible scientific evidence that proves the claims to
be true,” said Attorney General Gansler. “In this case,
Airborne’s claims that its products could prevent colds or
otherwise fight germs were unproven and misleading.”
Under Maryland law,
health claims in advertisements must be substantiated with adequate
well controlled studies. In a Complaint filed with
the Final Judgment, the Office of the Attorney General alleged
that Airborne claimed its products were a cold prevention remedy,
a sore throat remedy, a germ fighter, and an allergy remedy, but
did not have adequate well-controlled studies that proved these
claims. Among other things, the settlement the Attorney General
reached with the companies and their owners prohibit them from:
- making
health-related claims unless the claims can be substantiated
by competent and reliable scientific evidence;”
- influencing
the placement of their products into the “cough/cold” aisle
of retailers; and,
- recommending usage
of their product at levels that could be potentially harmful.
The Complaint and Final Judgment were filed in the Circuit Court
for Baltimore City earlier today.
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