Schulman Bhattacharya, LLC, along with Boston-based co-counsel Shapiro Haber & Urmy LLP, just secured a significant legal victory for consumers nationwide in Starr, et al. v. VSL Pharmaceuticals, Inc., et al. (Civil Action No. 19-cv-02173-LKG). In the Starr case, Schulman Bhattacharya represents the plaintiffs in a class action litigation against the licensor and distributors of the probiotic VSL#3®. On January 28, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland issued a 33-page opinion granting plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The certified classes include a nationwide class under RICO, as well as nine state subclasses pursuing claims for breach of warranty, unjust enrichment, and consumer fraud. The state subclasses consist of consumers who purchased VSL#3 between June 1, 2016 through June 19, 2019 in Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Washington, and Wisconsin.
In this case, the plaintiffs allege that the defendants deceptively marketed a reformulated version of VSL#3® from June 2016 to June 2019, misleading consumers into believing it was the same as the original, clinically tested probiotic formulation sold under the same brand name prior to June 1, 2016. Plaintiffs contend that this conduct violates the federal RICO statute, state consumer protection laws, and other legal duties. Notably, this case stems from a prior litigation won by Schulman Bhattacharya, where the distributors of VSL#3® were found liable under the Lanham Act for falsely advertising VSL#3® and ordered to disgorge profits of $15 million to the firm’s client, ExeGi Pharma, LLC.
Following the District Court’s ruling, the defendants in Starr petitioned the Fourth Circuit for permission to appeal the class certification order under Rule 23(f). On April 7, 2025, the Fourth Circuit denied the petition, allowing the case to move forward on behalf of all certified classes.
The Schulman Bhattacharya team representing the plaintiffs includes Jeremy Schulman, Jeffrey Gavenman, Renan Varghese, and Anna Kornilova.
To read a redacted version of the Court’s certification decision click here.
To read the Law360 article about this significant victory for Schulman Bhattacharya, click here.
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