Cueto
The defendant in one of a series of 2008 class actions filed in St. Clair County over the effectiveness of immune system supplements is objecting to the proposed class notice in the case.
Defendant CVS Pharmacies Inc. filed its objections to the class notice submitted by lead plaintiff Iean Finley on Sept. 3.
Finley is leading an Illinois-only class against the pharmacy owner claiming that the company's Airshield product does not boost the immune system as claimed.
Other suits with nearly identical claims were filed the same year by the same team of attorneys.
That team consists of Paul Weiss, Kevin Hoerner and Richard Burke.
The cases were filed against CVS, Target, K-Mart and other retailers and seek no more than $75,000 in damages per class member.
St. Clair County Circuit Judge Lloyd Cueto certified the Finley class and the case in January.
In the Sept. 3 motion, the defendant argues that the plaintiff's proposed class notice is not detailed enough.
The defense also claims that the plaintiffs want to notify extra class members who may have already been granted relief under a September 2009 settlement the company entered into with the Federal Trade Commission.
CVS claims that newspaper and internet notice should suffice and that the plaintiffs are insisting on unreasonable forms of notice.
"Plaintiff seeks to impose unnecessary burdens on CVS in the guise of class notice," the objection motion reads.
Cueto had ordered CVS to file its stance on the class notice issue on Aug. 26.
The plaintiff's response to the objections has not been filed as of yet.
Robert Bassett and others represent CVS.
Bassett also is representing Target in the pending immune supplement filed against it.
The case is St. Clair case number 08-L-616.