The Future Onslaught of CBD Oil Class Action Lawsuits

by Jacob Greene

3mins Read Mar 19, 2024



CBD products have sprung up in large numbers in recent years after they were legalized. CBD is now available in every form imaginable. However, when it comes to this product, legal does not necessarily mean effective. In fact, many CBD offerings make promises that the product does not keep and buyers effectively end up cheated. As a result, there have been a number of class action lawsuits that have been filed, and it is only the beginning of the legal problems that sellers may be facing.

While CBD products are legal, one of the gray areas that they face are how the product is marketed. These offerings are unregulated by the FDA and, as a result, there are no federal rules that govern what manufacturers can and cannot say. CBD products are not tested and approved by the FDA and accordingly, there are no restrictions that can keep them off of the market.

 

CBD Products May not Contain what They Tell You


Buyers have been dismayed to find that oftentimes, they are not getting what they paid for when they purchased CBD products. In many instances, the claims that have been made by sellers have proven to be unfounded and untrue. Many products are later tested, and buyers discover that the product that they have been promised contains a certain amount of CBD oil actually has much less than they were led to believe. In some cases, CBD products were found to have no CBD oil whatsoever.

Other CBD products make claims that are demonstrably false in order to convince buyers to purchase them. These representations can include certain benefits of the product or other ways that it has been marketed. In any event, buyers are waking up to realize that they were sold the proverbial bridge, and there was nobody to protect them from getting ripped off.

Currently, there are no FDA regulations of which to speak, but the regulator has indicated that it is taking a harder line when it comes to sales of these products. The FDA sent out a dozen warning letter to various companies selling CBD products cautioning them against their marketing claims. The agency indicated that it will no longer take a laissez faire approach to this previously unregulated industry.

One area where the FDA has issued a prohibition is on selling CBD products and marketing them as diet supplements. However, some companies have done just that and are facing lawsuits as a result.

 

Recently Filed CBD Oil Lawsuits


Another claim that has been the subject of lawsuits is that users took products that were improperly marketed as THC-free. CBD removes the THC so users do not experience the impacts that they would with marijuana. However, some products were not correctly labelled. In one case, a buyer failed a drug test and lost his job after taking a product that he was led to believe did not contain THC.

In any event, these lawsuits are starting to be filed in large numbers, and any person who purchased a CBD product and does not feel that they got what they paid for is a possible plaintiff. The problem is that the industry is so new and the benefits of these products are unclear or undefined that it will be difficult to prove that some claims were false.

At the same times, manufacturers are unsure of the rules when they sell their products. The murky legal status of CBD products may be an issue if these cases proceed to trial. However, products that contain nowhere near the amount of advertised CBD may place the manufacturers in legal jeopardy. Manufacturers cannot tell consumers that they are purchasing one thing and then provide them with another.

The FDA's action will mean that there is an upcoming wave of lawsuits with plenty of uncertainty attached to them. The FDA did issue warning letters, but this is not the same as regulatory punishment of these manufacturers. Still, there may be a basis to believe that there is more there for class action attorneys to uncover since the FDA seemingly only scratched the tip of the iceberg in an industry where sellers can make wild and unverifiable claims.

Anyone who has purchased CBD oil products and believes that the product did not live up to the promises that the manufacturers made in their marketing should consult with a CBD oil class action attorney to learn their legal rights.