Some companies are selling hand sanitizers with unproven claims that they’ll protect you from the new coronavirus, warns the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The agency issued a warning letter to Prefense LLC for making misleading statements about its hand sanitizer, such as “Prefense … protects you from germs with just one application per day! It’s like wearing an invisible glove.”
The company’s website also falsely claims that Prefense can “protect you from pathogens up to 24 hours or for 10 hand washes,” according to an FDA news release. According to the FDA, there is no evidence that hand sanitizing products can protect consumers for 24 hours or after multiple hand-washings.
These types of misleading claims may put consumers at risk by leading to a false sense of security and resulting in infrequent hand-washings or hand sanitizing. The agency urges consumers to be vigilant of products sold with misleading, unproven claims, by following updates on their website, FDA regulators said.
In an attempt to meet demand for alcohol-based hand sanitizer the FDA turned to manufacturers. More than 1,500 additional manufacturers have registered with the FDA to produce the hand cleaners. But that’s led to safety concerns about false marketing or products that aren’t in line with the FDA’s standards.
According to FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, hand sanitizers are not proven to treat COVID-19. When consumers purchase a product reasonably believing, because of deceptive and misleading product claims, that a product is approved to use for its stated purposes when it is not, the company selling that product has been unjustly enriched at consumers’ expense. The attorneys at Finkelstein, Blankinship, Frei-Pearson & Garber, LLP have successfully brought lawsuits on behalf of consumers aggrieved by such deceptive product claims. If you or someone you know has purchased hand sanitizer based on the claims made by Prefense LLC on its websites or product labelling, please contact us today for a free consultation regarding your legal options