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        Sunscreen Makers Sued for Misleading Health Claims

        Thu Mar 30, 2006 11:28 PM GMT

        By Deena Beasley

        LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A consumer lawsuit filed on Thursday accuses sunscreen makers of exposing millions of people to cancer and other dangers through false and misleading claims about the effectiveness of their products.

        The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, consolidates nine previous lawsuits filed by individuals and seeks class action status.

        It charges that makers of sunscreen, including brands such as Coppertone, Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Bullfrog and Neutrogena, inflate claims about their products' qualities, lulling consumers into a false sense of security over prolonged sun exposure. Ultraviolet radiation from the sun is the leading cause of skin cancer.

        The lawsuit, filed by the law firms of Lerach Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins LLP and Abraham Fruchter & Twersky LLP, does not make any claims of personal injury.

        Defendants named in the suit include Johnson & Johnson Inc., Schering-Plough Corp., Playtex Products Inc., Tanning Research Laboratories Inc. and Chattem Inc..

        The suit focuses on labels that claim the sunscreens protect equally against the sun's harmful UVA and UVB rays, and also claims of how long sunscreens promoted as waterproof remain effective in water.

        It says the defendants' products may protect against harmful UVA rays with shorter wavelengths, but the skin remains exposed to harmful UVA rays with longer wavelengths that penetrate deep within the skin.

        The suit also alleges that parents have been misled into believing their children are protected as a result of claims in labels for products aimed specifically at children, such as Coppertone Water Babies.

        "Schering-Plough misled ... the general public by representing that their Coppertone Water Babies UVA/UVB Sunblock Lotion provided 45 times a child's natural protection against both UVA and UVB rays," according to the suit.

        It says the product only provides that level of protection against UVB, and cites scientific studies showing that the sunscreen ingredients do not provide the same level of UVA protection...

        The full article is here.

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