Goop, the wellness and lifestyle company founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, will offer refunds to California customers to settle a lawsuit claiming it made unscientific claims about the health benefits of three products, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
The Santa Monica-based company has also agreed to pay $145,000 in civil penalties as a result of the settlement with nine California counties, including Orange County, the district attorney’s office said in a news release.
The products in question include the Jade Egg, a $66 stone inserted in women’s vaginas to “increase sexual energy and pleasure,” and the Rose Quartz Egg, a similar product costing $55. At one point, both products had reportedly sold out.
Goop advertised that the eggs, a little over an inch wide and inch and a half long, could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse and increase bladder control. But these claims were unsubstantiated by scientific evidence, prosecutors said.
The Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend — a $22 tincture purported to help with “the clearing of guilt, shame, self-criticism and blame” — was also named in the complaint because the company claimed it could help prevent depression. As of Tuesday, Goop’s website still said the product would “help prevent ‘shame spirals’ downward toward depressive states.”
The complaint was filed in Napa County by a task force of prosecutors from Alameda, Marin, Napa, Orange, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, Sonoma, Solano and Shasta counties.
As a result, the company is barred from making claims about its products’ health benefits “without possessing competent and reliable scientific evidence,” and from selling or manufacturing unapproved medical devices.
In a statement emailed to Bloomberg, Goop Chief Financial Officer Erica Moore defended its advertising practices, saying it merely provides “practitioners” a platform to share their opinions and experiences with products. “The law, though, sometimes views statement like this as advertising claims, which are subject to various legal requirements,” Moore wrote.
In a Q&A on the Goop website the egg’s creator, Shiva Rose, advised women to sleep with the rock inserted — assuming they don’t “feel too much energy from the egg for that long a stretch” — or even walk around with them inside.
But in an open letter to the Oscar-winning actress declaring the eggs a “bad idea,” Bay Area OB-GYN Jen Gunter said the porous nature of jade makes it ripe for bacteria, which increases the risk of bacterial vaginosis or deadly toxic shock syndrome.
Gunter also took issues with the advice for women to hold it inside their bodies for extended periods of time.
“I would like to point out that your pelvic floor muscles are not meant to contract continuously,” she wrote. “In fact, it is quite difficult to isolate your pelvic floor while walking so many women could actually clench other muscles to keep the egg inside.”
Last August, the nonprofit Truth in Advertising had called on state prosecutors to investigate the company’s claims.
Goop has agreed to fully refund California consumers who bought the Jade Egg, Rose Quartz Egg, and/or Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend on or between Jan. 12, 2017 and Aug. 31, 2017.
To request a refund, emailing customerservice@goop.com or calling Goop customer service at 1-844-WTF-GOOP.