Plaintiff Hasn’t Said He Used Hand Sanitizer He’s Suing Over, CVS Says

CVS Health wants to end a federal suit alleging the company misleadingly states its store-brand hand sanitizers kill 99.99% of all germs according to a report in Law360.

In a motion to dismiss the case filed Tuesday, CVS argued that the customer pushing the case hasn’t even said he used the product, let alone that he was injured by the so-called false advertisement. CVS also says that labeling for hand sanitizers is regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and the labels on CVS’ products comply with those guidelines, so that the claims are preempted.

According to court documents, the plaintiff alleges that the labeling on CVS store-brand hand sanitizers is misleading as it claims the product is effective against 99.99% of germs, but that there are a number of pathogens it cannot destroy. In Tuesday’s motion, CVS also pointed out that the product is a sanitizer meant to clean the hands, while many of the pathogens and bacteria the plaintiff cites are borne by food or found in intestinal tracts, not on the hands.