A judge has rejected Abbott Laboratories’ effort to dismiss a Latest York City grandmother’s lawsuit claiming it misled consumers into believing its PediaSure Grow & Gain nutrition drinks were “clinically proven” to help children grow taller.
US District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan said Friday that Joanne Noriega’s grievance set forth “strong, evidence-backed reasons” to doubt Abbott’s claim that clinical studies supported its marketing claims.
Noriega cited three studies funded by Abbott itself that found no connection between PediaSure and growth in height.
“The existence of studies contradicting the label’s claim reinforce the plausibility of the grievance’s allegation that the label would mislead an inexpensive consumer,” Engelmayer wrote.
Abbott and its lawyers didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment after business hours.
Noriega of the Bronx said she had bought PediaSure Grow & Gain vanilla and strawberry drinks for her 8-year-old grandson, who was “short for his age,” believing they might help him get taller. She said that after a 12 months of drinking two PediaSure drinks per day, her grandson was still short but had grow to be “so obese” that she stopped buying the drinks.
James Denlea, a lawyer for Noriega, said in an interview he was pleased with the choice, which lets his client gather more evidence through the invention process.
Abbott had access to studies that “completely debunked any notion that its milkshake could help children grow,” Denlea said. “The marketing was misleading, and Abbott knew that to be the case.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages for Latest Yorkers who were deceived into buying or overpaying for PediaSure.
Abbott has said PediaSure is meant for kids ages 2 to 13, and helps them “grow out of at-risk weight-for-height percentiles (Fifth-Twenty fifth percentiles)” inside eight weeks.
PediaSure is a component of the Abbott Park, Illinois-based company’s pediatric dietary segment, which also includes Pedialyte and Similac.
The case is Noriega v Abbott Laboratories, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Latest York, No. 23-04014.