The unfortunately named company formed by actress-entrepreneur Gwyneth Paltrow, Goop, just got dinged by district attorneys from around the North Bay in a civil lawsuit that sees the high-tone product line paying out $145,000 in fines to plaintiffs in Marin, Sonoma, Napa, Contra Costa, Orange, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz and Solano counties.
The settlement was announced locally by Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch on Monday. In a statement, her office says it stemmed from a civil action filed in Napa County Superior Court which claimed that numerous of Paltrow’s products made false or misleading claims about their efficacy in treating depression and various gynecological issues.
The company sells vitamins and dietary supplements including products called the Jade Egg and the Rose Quartz Egg. Those products were advertised as being helpful in balancing hormones, regulating menstrual cycles, preventing uterine prolapse, and increasing bladder control. No, no, no and no, they don’t, says Ravitch in a statement announcing the settlement. Another product, the Inner Judge Flower Essence, was promoted as an aid in preventing depression.
The district attorneys ruled that the products’ claims were not backed up by science, and Goop agreed to pay $145,000 in civil penalties. In addition, the company “is enjoined from making any claims regarding the efficacy or effects of any of its products without possessing competing and reliable scientific evidences that substantiates its claim,” says Ravitch in a statement, “and from manufacturing or selling any misbranded, unapproved or falsely advertised medical devices.” The company has agreed to refund the full purchase price of the products to anyone who bought them between January and August of 2017. The Jade Egg retailed for around $60. According to online sources, the average consumer of Goop products is a woman who earns more than $100,000 a year.
Paltrow’s company sells much more besides fraudulent and weirdly named snake-oil vaginal inserts for wealthy women, and the $145,000 fine is a mere drop in the company’s bucket. According to online corporate profiles of Goop, Paltrow’s brainchild saw revenues in 2016 of between $10 and $15 million.
