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Herbal supplement
March 13, 2008
Feel duped by Airborne?

Did you buy Airborne between May 21, 2001 and Nov. 29, 2007? You could get a refund.

The maker of the herbal supplement earlier this month agreed to settle a class action suit over false advertising for $23.3 million.

Airborne was selling itself as a cold remedy, when its major ingredients weren't that different from a multi-vitamin.

Helping sales was the cutesy packaging and a fabulous backstory: Schoolteacher hangs out with second-graders every day. Keeps getting their gross germs. Invents effervescent tablet that you plunk into a glass of water and drink to fight viruses.

So...she wasn't a scientist. Didn't matter. Airborne sales topped $100 million a year.

The company’s bold health claims – one press release said Airborne could cure most colds within an hour – created skeptics and sparked an ABC News investigation in 2006 .

The ABC report, which led to the lawsuit, found that the clinical study supporting Airborne's claims was conducted by two people, neither of whom were scientists.

In settling the lawsuit, Airborne denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay back aggrieved customers.

Feel aggrieved? Visit the Airborne Settlement Web site.

If you don't have a receipt, you can receive a refund for up to six products. That's $10.50 per box of Seasonal Airborne, $2.75 per box of Gummi Airborne, and $6.99 for all other Airborne products.

To be on the safe side, Airborne now describes itself as a health formula that "boosts your immune system."

airborne_200.jpg
At least it's fizzy and fun!

Posted by Josie Huang at 03:30 PM
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Josie Huang joined the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram as a general-assignment reporter in June 2001. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Huang has worked at the Springfield (Mass.) Union News/Sunday Republican and freelanced at the Taiwan News.



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