Nurofen settles for $3.5 million after misleading consumers over pain relief
The manufacturers of pain relief drug Nurofen will pay $3.5 million compensation to consumers after a class action against their “misleading” Specific Pain Range packaging.
The company said in a statement it had made an offer to settle.
“Nurofen has offered to settle the Specific Pain Range class action in Australia to ensure that consumers who may have been misled are appropriately and swiftly compensated,” a spokeswoman said.
“It was never our intention to mislead, but we recognise that we could have done more to assist our consumers in navigating the Nurofen Specific Pain Range in Australia.”
“We have taken the Nurofen Specific Pain Range cases seriously, and have taken steps to ensure that future marketing campaigns are sensitive to the risk of misinterpretation and confusion, while providing consumers with an informed choice.”
Law firm Bannister Law, which brought the class action, said Nurofen maker Reckitt Benckiser Australia had agreed to a settlement of $3.5 million. The money will go into a fund to be administered by an independent third party, and distributed eligible group members.
“We anticipate Settlement Notices will soon be published in newspapers in every Australian state, calling for consumers who purchased the Nurofen Specific Pain Range products between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2015 to come forward and register their claim for compensation from the settlement fund,” the law firm said in a statement.
The original class action was brought against Reckitt Benckiser for misleading and deceiving customers by claiming the “Specific Pain Range” was specially formulated to treat separate ailments.
“However, each product contained the same active ingredient and could not specifically treat one pain as opposed to another,” the claim said.
Bannister Law’s founder and Principal Charles Bannister said the advertising “exploited” customers who were “duped” into paying more for basic products.
“None of these costly tablets actually targeted these specific pain symptoms. Australians have a right to feel duped by the deceptive marketing and selling of these expensive pain tablets which were sold at a premium price,” he said.