Acne Treatment Lawsuit Claims Certain MDacne, CLENZIderm M.D. Skincare Creams Contain Benzene

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges skincare companies MDalgorithms, Inc. and Obagi Cosmeceuticals have failed to warn consumers that some of their acne treatment products potentially contain a dangerous carcinogen.

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The 32-page acne treatment lawsuit relays that certain MDalgorithms and Obagi products contain benzoyl peroxide (BPO), which degrades over time into benzene, a component of gasoline that is linked to leukemia and other blood cancers.

The suit contends that the manufacturers knowingly marketed and sold the items—namely, MDalgorithms’ MDacne customized treatment cream with five percent BPO and Obagi’s CLENZIderm M.D. therapeutic lotion with five percent BPO—without any kind of warning on product packaging that the skincare creams risked containing the carcinogen.

According to the case, a recent study by independent laboratory Valisure revealed that numerous BPO acne treatments on the market contained elevated levels of benzene. The complaint shares that one plaintiff, in light of Valisure’s findings, subjected the skincare creams at issue to lab testing, which reportedly showed that the beauty products contained benzene at levels “far above” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s maximum concentration limit of two parts per million.

The filing charges that had the manufacturers adequately tested their skincare products for benzene and other contaminants, the companies would have discovered the presence of the dangerous carcinogen.

In any case, the suit claims, the actual or potential presence of benzene in the acne treatments renders the items misbranded, adulterated and illegal to sell under Missouri and Florida state law.

The complaint alleges that the plaintiffs relied on the items’ labels and understood them as representations that the skincare treatments were safe and not contaminated. However, the filing argues that the women would not have paid as much or bought the products at all had they known they risked containing benzene.

The MDalgorithms and Obagi acne treatment lawsuit looks to represent anyone in Missouri or Florida who purchased the BPO products listed on this page for personal or household use during the applicable statute of limitations period.

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