PENSACOLA – An Escambia County resident has filed a class action false advertising lawsuit against Procter & Gamble, claiming that the company has falsely marketed its over-the-counter cold remedies for years as effective treatments for cold symptoms, even though the active ingredient in these products has been determined to be ineffective by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Plaintiff Cody Morgan filed a class action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida against Procter & Gamble, citing allegations of violations of Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act and unjust enrichment.
Morgan states that he purchased Vick's DayQuil, which is manufactured and marketed by the defendant. He claims that despite being marketed and advertised as an effective remedy for congestion, they did not work as advertised.
According to the lawsuit, the primary active ingredient in the defendant's products is phenylephrine hydrochloride, and the lawsuit claims that "no support has been found in the literature in the public domain for the efficacy of PE as a nasal decongestant when administered orally.”
The lawsuit states that another ingredient found in OTC cold and cough medicines is pseudoephedrine, which has been proven effective. According to the lawsuit, pseudoephedrine is also an ingredient in the production of illegal methamphetamine. As a result, the sale of medications containing pseudoephedrine has been limited to behind-the-counter, and individuals are limited to how much they can purchase each month and must present identification to purchase products containing pseudoephedrine. This primary ingredient is not found in Procter & Gamble products.
The lawsuit adds that while the FDA has designated PE as "generally recognized as safe and effective," in 2007, the FDA issued a report detailing the ineffectiveness of oral PE as an active ingredient in cold products. On Sept. 11, 2023, the FDA revisited this study and concluded that scientific data does not support the designation of PE as an ingredient in cough and cold medicines.
Morgan claims that, as a result of these studies, the defendants should have known that their claims that their OTC products containing PE are effective treatments for decongestion were misleading and false.
Morgan is demanding a jury trial to seek damages for himself and everyone in his proposed class action lawsuit, plus court costs, attorney fees, and any other relief the court deems proper. Additionally, he is seeking an injunction against the sale and deceptive advertising of the products. He is represented in this case by attorneys Michael A. Burns and Michael Sacchet of Ciresti Conlin, LLP in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Kiley L. Grombacher of Bradley/Grombacher, LLP in Westlake Village, California.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida case number 3:23-CV-24628