A class action lawsuit launched in Los Angeles against the five leading U.S. makers of sun protection lotions alleges that the companies lied about the effectiveness of their products in blocking harmful sun rays and protecting skin.
The lawsuit names the following brands: Coppertone (Schering-Plough); Banana Boat (Sun Pharmaceuticals and Playtex Products); Hawaiian Tropic (Tanning Research Laboratories); Neutrogena (Neutrogena Corp. and Johnson & Johnson); and Bullfrog (Chattem Inc.).
Combined, they account for 70 percent of U.S. sales of such products, Agence France Presse reported.
Mitchell Twersky, one of the lawyers involved in the legal action, said claims by these brands are "clearly misleading" insofar as they claim that "their products block all the harmful sun rays."
The lawsuit seeks to have words such as "sunblock" and "waterproof" taken off the labels of these products. It also wants the companies that make them to direct "the money that they wrongfully obtained" into a skin cancer research foundation, AFP reported.
HealthDay News, March 31, 2006
