The problems for Herbalife keep coming. They are now being sued by a California woman who claims that she had to be hospitalized for lead related problems after taking Herbalife products.
The suit was announced earlier this week by San Francisco attorney Christopher Gell, who is a critic of Herbalife and…..this will come as no surprise…..she is a friend of Barry Minkow, the Fraud Discovery Institute, who just two weeks ago released “findings” that Herbalife products had excessive levels of lead. Herbalife has since rebuked those findings, saying that their own independent lab results showed that lead levels in their products are well within acceptable and legal levels.
The woman, Philis Chen, is suing Herbalife for Breach of Express Warranty, Breach of Implied Warranty, Strict Liability, Negligence and Fraud. The suit also names other companies that manufacture Herbalife products. Chen says that she began taking a combination of Herbalife products over a year ago and after a few months began feeling ill. She stopped taking the products and when her health improved, resumed taking the combination of Herbalife supplements, until recently when she noticed blood in her urine. Doctors in the hospital admitted her for testing and said that the liver problems were possibly connected to the Herbalife products.
I’m not sure why or how the doctors would assume or make that kind of claim without testing the products, but according to Ms. Chen’s attorney, Christopher Gell, this is the claim made by the doctors.
The suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior court and apparently does not yet state a dollar amount of damages sought by the plaintiff.
Minkow is still on his rampage against Herbalife and now it seems he has another ally in attorney Christopher Gell. Hopefully this suit will force the company to do several more studies and once and for all put lead rumors to rest. But, for Minkow, I’m sure he sees this as a victory because even if Herbalife is vindicated, this is a legal and financial headache as well as continued bad press that will probably scare more than a few people away from using the products. We will keep you up-to-date on the lawsuit and its outcome.
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