The true price of a cold remedy that didn't work? Lawsuit against CVS suggests $5 million

Three Boston-area CVS customers have filed a class-action lawsuit against the pharmacy chain, alleging they were defrauded by a cold remedy that didn't work.

The lawsuit, filed yesterday in US District Court in Boston, seeks at least $5 million - and possibly more - for CVS's sales of "effervescent formula" AirShield, a generic version of Airborne, whose maker claimed it could fight colds up until the point it agreed to a $23-million settlement in a similar lawsuit last year (Airborne's maker agreed to settle without admitting any wrongdoing).

In their suit, James Faherty, Linda Feibel and Moe Tarkinow said they relied on CVS to sell them products that did what their packaging promised but that they were misled:

The truth is that there is no cure for the common cold and that CVS's AirShielf product, just like Airborne, is actually nothing more than "snake oil" that takes advantage of consumers.

Faherty, identified only as a resident of Norfolk County, says he bought some AirShield in 2008, relying on "written representations contained on the packaging" that he would not catch cold. But he apparently did. "Had Mr. Faherty known the truth that the statements he relied upon were falkse, he would not have purchased the product."

The three said they did not sue the company that actually manufactured AirShield because it went bankrupt last year and the company that bought what was left of it no longer makes it. The version of AirShield now sold by CVS says "is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease."

The complaint against CVS.