Johnson facing sunscreen class action suit

A series of leading pharmaceutical firms are facing a lawsuit accusing them of misleading consumers over the efficacy of their sunscreen products.

Firms including Schering-Plough, Johnson & Johnson, Playtex Products, Tanning Research Laboratories and Chattem are named in the suit, which has been filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court.

The lawsuit is being brought by a collection of firms on behalf of individuals, in a class action case that could prove significant.

According to the suit, popular sunscreen brands such as Hawaiian Tropic and Coppertone erroneously claim to offer comprehensive protection against both UVA and UVB rays, as well as misleading customers over the efficacy of the product in water.

“Sunscreen is the ‘snake oil’ of the 21st century and these companies that market it are Fortune 500 snake oil salesmen,” said Samuel Rudman of the New York law firm Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins.

In addition the lawyers claim that labels such as “sunblock” and “waterproof” do not give an accurate picture of the product’s capabilities.

The class action suit is calling for the manufacturers, who deny the allegations, to donate a portion of the profits accrued from the sale of the products to a foundation for treatment of skin cancer victims.

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