Vancouver woman goes after cough syrup makers for marketing to kids

A Vancouver woman suing children’s cough syrup manufacturers for misrepresentation and non-disclosure has had her case certified as a class action.

When Lana Wakelam’s son, now seven years old, was younger she bought cough and cold syrup and gave it to him to relieve his symptoms.

Now, the medicine is no longer marketed in Canada for that age group because it is considered ineffective for children between the ages of two and six.

Wakelam claims buying the medicine was a waste of money and she alleges that because it offered no benefit to balance the risks of taking the medication, it exposed her son to a real and unnecessary risk of harm.

Consequently, she asserts, the companies that made the cough syrup are all guilty of misrepresentation and non-disclosure.

According to the written decision of B.C. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Grauer, the defendants called the action “a travesty” and opposed its certification on a number of grounds, including constitutional.

“They note that no one has been injured or harmed. They point out that they are closely regulated by Health Canada and did nothing that was not specifically authorized by their federal regulators,” Grauer wrote.

However, because Wakelam met all of the requirements of the Class Proceedings Act, Grauer certified the action as a class proceeding.

Wakelam initially filed her lawsuit in 2007, naming Johnson & Johnson, McNeil Consumer Healthcare Canada, Novartis, Wyeth Consumer Health Care, Pfizer Canada, Trillium Health Care Products, Vita Health Products, Procter & Gamble and the attorney-general of B.C. as defendants.

The class action is open to all B.C. residents who purchased children’s cough medicine for use by children under the age of six, that was supplied, offered for sale, advertised or promoted by the defendants between Dec. 24, 1997, and Thursday, when the action was certified.

Read the official transcript of the ruling here.