Gwyneth Paltrow's health claims on her Goop wellness brand are unsubstantiated and deceptive, two California attorneys are charging in a complaint to the state's Food, Drug and Medical Device Task Force filed on Tuesday.
Laura Smith and Bonnie Patten, of Truth In Advertising (TINA), said in a letter to the task force that they have documented more than 50 unsubstantiated claims made by the Oscar-winning actress and her company about Goop's products.
The attorneys said the company claims "either expressly or implicitly, that its products or third party products that it promotes can treat, cure, prevent, alleviate the symptoms of, or reduce the risk of developing a number of ailments, ranging from depression, anxiety, and insomnia, to infertility, uterine prolapse, and arthritis, just to name a few."
Smith and Patten urged in their letter for the task force to start an investigation into Goop and take enforcement action against the company.
"Women that are having infertility problems are desperate to find a cure or treatment, and Goop is taking advantage of people at their most vulnerable positions," Patten told NBC's "Today" show. "And it's really just not acceptable."
Goop responded to the TINA's claims with a statement to E! News, calling their charges mislead and unfounded.
"We are receptive to feedback and consistently seek to improve the quality of the products and information referenced on our site," the Goop statement said, per E! News. "We responded promptly and in good faith to the initial outreach from representatives of TINA and hoped to engage with them to address their concerns.
"Unfortunately, they provided limited information and made threats under arbitrary deadlines which were not reasonable under the circumstances. Nevertheless, while we believe that TINA's description of our interactions is misleading and their claims unsubstantiated and unfounded, we will continue to evaluate our products and our content and make those improvements that we believe are reasonable and necessary in the interests of our community of users," the statement continued.
The "Iron Man" actress founded in 2008 a weekly email newsletter, but it has now grown into a retail and lifestyle business that she runs as its chief executive officer, the "Today" show wrote.