We continue to scratch our heads over consumer class actions
seeking monetary compensation when the customers received exactly
what they paid for. We see them from time to time in the
pharmaceutical space, where patients claim monetary compensation
even though the prescription drugs they used worked like they were
supposed to with no adverse reactions. That last point is
worth repeating—no adverse reactions, as in no injury
incurred or even alleged. These kinds of money-for-nothing
lawsuits often do not survive, as we reported
here and
here.
Many, however, are filed in California, where the state's
permissive consumer fraud laws erect a low bar. One example
is a very long-running hormone replacement therapy case called
Krueger v. Wyeth, Inc., No. 3:03-cv-2496, 2019 WL 2743942
(S.D. Cal. July 1, 2019), where the district court certified a
class of HRT patients several years ago, and recently denied the
defendants' motion for summary judgment in part, thus
