EOS Lip Balm Faces Potential Class-Action Lawsuit
Rachel Cronin claims she had a negative reaction after using the lip balm.
— -- The maker of a lip balm touted by celebrities from Kim Kardashian to Britney Spears and Miley Cyrus is facing a lawsuit from a woman who claims she had a negative reaction to the lip balm.
Rachel Cronin claims the lip balm, EOS, caused her lips to flake after using it for the first time.
“Within 48 hours, my lips became extremely dry and irritated,” Cronin told ABC News. “They were flaking all around the outside.”
Cronin contacted EOS, which she says told her to seek medical attention, according to the lawsuit.
“I couldn’t fully open my mouth to eat because sometimes it would crack,” Cronin told ABC News. “I couldn’t smile fully because it would crack and bleed.”
The lawsuit brought by Cronin alleges the egg-shaped lip balm “has caused consumers’ lips to crack, bleed, itch, burn, flake and generate severe boiling and blistering…."
In legal documents, the Los Angeles resident claims that after she posted pictures of her lips on Facebook, there was a “frenzy of responses” from individuals with similar experiences.
“The next step will be to collate all the people who have similar complaints, similarly situated,” Mark Geragos told ABC News of a potential class-action lawsuit. “We’re assembling that as we speak.”
EOS said in a statement to ABC News that they “firmly believe” the lawsuit is "without merit."
“Our products are made with the highest quality ingredients and meet or exceed all safety and quality standards set out by our industry and validated by rigorous testing conducted by an independent lab. The health and well-being of our customers is our top priority and millions of satisfied customers use our products every day, many of whom take the time to share their experiences with us,” the statement read.
“We sold several million lip balms last month in the US and received 40 consumer complaints, or a complaint rate of 0.001%. Of those consumers, 35 agreed to receive coupons for replacement products and we didn't hear from the other five yet.”
Cronin’s lawsuit also alleges that there are no warnings about ingredients in EOS lip balm that she claims may cause potential side effects.
EOS told ABC News the ingredients used in the lip balm are safe and FDA-approved for use "without warning labels."
"All ingredients used in our products are safe and approved for use by the FDA and the CIR (Cosmetic Ingredient Review Board) without warning labels, and we are in full compliance with all standard and guidelines regarding ingredient use and labeling," the company said in a statement.
Dr. Doris Day, a New York City-based dermatologist, told ABC News the ingredients in EOS lip balm are not unusual.
"You can't be certain that this reaction is coming from the lip balm without further investigation," Day said.
Cronin's complaint against EOS is a putative class action lawsuit that needs to be certified by the court before moving forward as a full class-action.
The lawsuit, brought to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles Tuesday, is seeking “compensatory, statutory and punitive damages, together with interest, costs of suit attorneys’ fees and all such other relief as the Court deems appropriate.”
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