Despite Costing More, Children’s Delsym Cough Medicine Is the Same As Adult Variety, Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action contends that Children’s Delsym Cough Relief products are exactly the same as their “adult” counterparts, despite costing more and bearing a different label.

According to the 27-page case, defendant Reckitt Benckiser has misled reasonable consumers into believing that the children’s Delsym cough medicine is specifically formulated and safe for children. In truth, the lawsuit says, the adult Delsym Cough Relief medicine contains “the exact same formula and ingredients” as the children’s version.

“Defendant puts the same cough syrup into two different products with different labels,” the filing alleges. “Consumers are being deceived and overcharged.” 

The “children’s” Delsym cough syrup is labeled as “Age 4+” and “for children,” displaying a cartoon of a child, the complaint relays. The label of the adult version of the cough syrup does not include these representations, though both products’ side labels display identical dosing charts, the case says.

The lawsuit argues that because children consume Delsym cough syrup at a slower rate than adults, the defendant created and marketed one product as specifically formulated for children and sold it at a premium, even though the children’s and adult varieties contain the same active and inactive ingredients in the same amounts.

Per the case, the difference in the products’ pricing further indicates to reasonable consumers that Children’s Delsym is better suited for children than the adult version. As the suit tells it, consumers are willing to pay more for a product they believe is specifically formulated for children and safe for them to consume. 

“In short, Defendant tricks consumers into thinking they are buying [a] cough relief product specially formulated for children, when in reality consumers are just buying Defendant’s cough relief product for adults in a different packaging marketed for children,” the suit summarizes. 

The case looks to represent all consumers in the United States who bought Children’s Delsym Cough Relief for personal and household use and not for resale at any time since the product first entered the stream of commerce. 

The lawsuit aims for the court to compel Reckitt Benckiser to stop marketing the children’s cough syrup “using the misleading and unlawful tactics complained of herein,” destroy all “misleading, deceptive, and unlawful” materials, conduct a corrective advertising campaign and reimburse consumers for the amounts they paid for the product, among other recourse. 

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