Class Action: Despite Recall, NaturMed Failed to Disclose All Day Energy Greens Supplement Was Dangerous [UPDATE]

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The current and former makers of All Day Energy Greens face a proposed class action that alleges the March 2016 recall for the supplement, which reportedly caused many users severe gastrointestinal distress, fell short in a number of aspects. According to the lawsuit, former All Day Energy Greens seller NaturMed failed to warn consumers of the product’s dangers, as well as attempt to recover all unused lots of the supplement, despite discovering manufacturing-related ingredients discrepancies.

The 36-page lawsuit alleges that defendants Bactolac Pharmaceutical, Inc.; NaturMed, Inc., which did business as the Institute for Vibrant Living and dissolved in May 2017; and NaturMed successor Independent Vital Life, LLC knew their All Day Energy Greens supplement contained “toxic and/or harmful substances” yet failed to inform consumers of such and even kept the product on the market once its dangers had become known. Though the companies were made aware as early as September 2014 that some consumers had become seriously ill after taking the supplement, the defendants did little to prevent the product from being used for nearly 18 months, the suit says.

“Instead, Defendants continued marketing and distributing the product all the while knowing it was making customers sick,” the complaint claims, noting that it wasn’t until March 18, 2016 that All Day Energy Greens was finally recalled.

Customer complaints regarding All Day Energy Greens primarily concerned reports of gastrointestinal distress after taking the product, the lawsuit says. Noted in the suit is that after NaturMed was hit with several lawsuits in 2017 over the alleged toxicity of its dietary supplement, the company experienced significant financial difficulty. The lawsuit says NaturMed’s interests were obtained by Independent Vital Life, who retained key NaturMed personnel.

The complaint draws a timeline that starts in 2014, when NaturMed placed more orders for All Day Energy Greens with its manufacturer, Bactolac, due to an increase in customer demand. In late 2014, however, NaturMed, seeing an increase in consumer complaints, “was suspicious that Bactolac was contaminating the product,” and began to monitor the company’s processing facility on Long Island, according to the case.

NaturMed claimed that Bactolac refused to fully cooperate with its investigation into the customer complaints, including by refusing to provide requested paperwork and showing reluctance in supplying certificates identifying the raw materials used for All Day Energy Greens, the lawsuit continues. In turn, NaturMed claimed that it could not track the source of Bactolac’s raw materials to ensure they were of “genuine and good quality,” the suit says.

In July 2015, NaturMed stopped using Bactolac to manufacture All Day Energy Greens and supposedly saw an 80-percent decrease in customer complaints by the end of the year, the lawsuit goes on. The plaintiffs stress that despite the apparent straightening out of the manufacturing issues, the defendants never notified or warned customers that All Day Energy Greens may cause gastrointestinal issues, nor attempted to recall the products made by Bactolac. Additionally, NaturMed, even after the sharp decrease in complaints, made no attempt to recover unused and possibly toxic All Day Energy Greens until March 2016, the suit says.

Though NaturMed recalled All Day Energy Greens, the company failed to disclose that the product was dangerous, the plaintiffs say. According to the lawsuit, lots of All Day Energy Greens manufactured between mid-2014 and mid-2015 contained ingredients not declared on product labels while lacking certain ingredients required by the product formula.

“In reality, All Day Energy Greens was hazardous for human consumption and could cause severe, chronic illness, bodily impairment, and death—none of which were disclosed to consumers,” the lawsuit reads. 

With regard to the recall itself, the lawsuit says NaturMed neither published notice of such on its website nor in print or anywhere else online. All told, the lawsuit claims NaturMed failed to properly look into what caused All Day Energy Greens customers to experience gastrointestinal distress until well after the March 2016 recall and not until it was sued by those who had fallen ill. 

The lawsuit looks to cover anyone in the U.S. who bought one or more canisters of All Day Energy Greens from one of the 99 lots that were recalled by NaturMed on March 18, 2016. The plaintiffs also look to represent separate statewide classes of consumers in Arizona, Florida, New York and Washington.