Equate 4% Lidocaine Patches Don’t Stay On Class Action

This class action takes issue with Walmart’s Equate brand Lidocaine Pain-Relieving Patches, alleging the company’s marketing and sales practice for these products are “deceptive and misleading.” The complaint alleges that the patches fall off customers’ bodies long before the advertised “twelve hours” and therefore are not “stay-put” patches, and that they do not deliver “maximum strength” pain relief because they contain only 4% lidocaine.

The class for this action is all consumers who bought the products in the US during the Class Period. A New York Subclass has also been defined for individuals in the above class who bought the products in New York. The products at issue are

• Equate Maximum Strength Lidocaine Pain Relieving Patch
• Equate Lidocaine + Menthol Pain Relief Patch

Lidocaine is a local anesthetic—one that stops pain, the complaint alleges, “by blocking the signals at the nerve endings in the skin.” Lidocaine patches may be prescribed by doctors, but the patches at issue in this case are over-the-counter products.

Walmart advertises that the products provide “maximum strength” pain relief, that the patches are “easy to apply,” that each one is a “stay-put, flexible patch,” and that they will last “up to eight hours.” Pages 3 and 4 of the complaint shows images of the product boxes, which make these claims.

First, the complaint alleges that the patches are not “maximum strength” because they contain only 4% lidocaine, and because other products are available that contain 5% lidocaine.

Second, the complaint claims that they do not provide “maximum strength” pain relief with an “easy to apply,” “stay-put, flexible patch” for “up to twelve hours.” According to the complaint, they are not “easy to apply” in any way that will stay in place for up to twelve hours and cannot supply pain relief for nearly that long.

The complaint alleges that the patches are not flexible enough to withstand the motion of daily activities and do not adhere to customers’ bodies for twelve hours.

The complaint quotes customer postings from Walmart’s own website, such as the following:

• “[T]he adhesive is horrible quality[.]”
• “How can this work if it doesn’t stick????? I bought this item for my neck and the darn things would not stick to my skin. I could [i]magine what the back would be like…”
• “Not a fan of Equate Lidocaine Patches[.] …These patches are way too sticky and stick to themselves when applying. Once the shape is compromised[,] they fall off easily. I don[’]t feel the medication is powerful either as with other brands…”
• “Don’t buy it! Not worth the money. Does not stay where you put it and doesn’t help the pain.”

According to the complaint, consumers are willing to pay more for stronger doses of pain relief: “For example, [Walmart] charges approximately $0.97 for comparable patches on its website that aren’t labeled ‘maximum strength’ but charges approximately $1.16 for its ‘maximum strength’ patches.”

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Contains Too Little of Featured Ingredients, Deceptive Advertising, Deceptive Labels