Businesses in the dietary supplement supply chain are taking cover after the New York Attorney General (NYAG) ordered four major retailers to cease and desist the sale and alleged mislabeling of certain herbal supplements. After genetically testing store-brand product samples of Ginko Biloba, St. John’s Wort, Ginseng, Garlic, Echinacea, and Saw Palmetto, the NYAG alleged that the supplements were unrecognizable or contained substances other than those disclosed on their packaging labels. Class action lawsuits already have been filed, and the NYAG directed the targeted retailers to provide it with detailed information regarding the manufacturing, testing, and procurement of the herbal supplements, and announced that it may bring charges for alleged deceptive practices in advertising.
In a recent Client Alert, authored by Evan Knott, Robert Deegan, Brian Himmel and Traci Rea, the authors, members of Reed Smith’s Global Insurance Recovery Group, discuss how impacted businesses along the dietary supplement supply chain should carefully scrutinize their commercial general liability (CGL), directors and officers liability (D&O), product recall, and errors and omissions liability (E&O) insurance policies to determine the availability of, and take all steps necessary to preserve, potential coverage.