Everyone has probably seen the commercials for Airborne — the cold remedy “developed by a school teacher who was sick of catching colds in class and on airplanes.”
Clearly, this sounds like a product that one would take to prevent catching a cold.
Even their website back in 2001 gave that impression and more:
“Crowded environments like Airplanes, Offices, and Schools are spawning grounds for germs that cause colds and sickness! AIRBORNE’S unique natural formula of seven Herbal Extracts, Antioxidants, Electrolytes, and Amino Acids, offers maximum vitamin and herbal protection for hours! Plus its natural ginger component helps fight nausea caused by motion sickness. Take at the first sign of a cold symptom or before entering crowded, potentially germ-infested places! [It then quotes a user as saying:] A miracle cold buster!”
And a few years later they touted the results of a clinical trial on their website.
*MOUSE PRINT: Though there is page after page of mumbo jumbo, it does suggest a reduction in symptoms by those who took Airborne. However, only 48 people actually took the product.
Fast forward to 2006. ABC reported that Airborne’s clinical trial was conducted neither by scientists nor doctors, but rather by two guys hired to conduct this particular test. The company then dropped references to it on its website.
Fast forward again to 2008. Airborne just settled a class action lawsuit claiming that the company misrepresented the product, and it agreed to pay over $23 million back to purchasers. [Get claim form here.]
The settlement agreement is lacking at least one key provision, however:
*MOUSE PRINT: There is no requirement that they refrain from making unsubstantiated claims in the future.
August 2008 Update: The FTC just entered into a settlement with the company to prevent them from making unsubstantiated health claims in the future, and to pay a total of $30 in settlement to aggrieved purchasers.