UPDATE: The class action lawsuit mentioned below has been dismissed. The court was not convinced the class met all four requirements under federal ruling, so the class and subclasses have been dismissed.
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Many people believe you’ve “made it” in your small business if it gets mentioned on a reality TV show. And that makes sense, some of those programs reach millions of viewers every week! And so it was for Ashley Black’s FasciaBlaster; the anti-cellulite tool has become so popular that two of the Kardashian’s, Khloe and Kourtney, used it on a recent episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians.
However, it seems not everyone has had good luck with the tool:
“A new class action lawsuit via the law offices of Perrin F. Disner out of Sherman Oaks, California, features several women and one man claiming that the FasciaBlaster tool hurt them. They are also accusing Black of false advertising. Ginevra Liptan, M.D.wrote that using the FasciaBlaster with too much pressure can cause problems, according to Hello Giggles.” 1
The main FasciaBlaster tool costs $89 and has gained popularity for its “ability to smooth out the lumps and bumps associated with cellulite by “blasting” various areas of the body that have been heated in a warm environment.”2
However, for the plaintiffs, Emily Elson, Stacy Haavisto, Loretta Oakes, Michelle Lanum, Julia Lefebvre, Sue Grlicky, Tilly Dorenkamp, Dina Salas, Arlene Rodriguez, and Jerry Gaines, the tool has brought them nothing but pain so they are asking for “relief and damages under the laws of the State of California.”3 They claim the FasciaBlaster did not deliver on its many promises claimed by what the lawsuit alleges is “false and deceptive advertising,” mostly spread via targeted Facebook ads. 4
Here are just some of the complaints in the lawsuit: 5
- 40-year-old Emily Elson bought a FasciaBlaster around March 2017 after seeing Facebook ads claiming a FasciaBlaster could reduce cellulite. After blasting weekly for a period of four or five weeks, the lawsuit claims she stopped “when a host of physical ailments began to arise.”
- Stacy Haavisto, says she was aggressively targeted via Facebook ads. Desiring to lose weight she bought her first FasciaBlaster around April 2016. Her weekly blasting caused foggy head, lethargy, and physical exhaustion. She also suffered from constipation, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, gas pains, heart palpitations, insomnia, anxiety, difficulty concentrating, blurred vision, vertigo, and severe headaches every day upon waking. Lastly, she gained 13 pounds.
- Loretta Oakes bought a FasciaBlaster, the “Mini 2” and the “Faceblaster.” She ended up with tingling in her feet and was at times in “too much pain to walk, ” leaving her “bedridden from November 2016, through January 2017, other than for doctor appointments.”
- Michelle Lanum bought a FasciaBlaster and participated in a putative “clinical trial” for the device at the Applied Science & Performance Institute (“ASPI”) in her own neighborhood. However, the clinical trial of the FasciaBlaster from December 10, 2016, through March 10, 2017, did not turn out as Michelle hoped. The lawsuit claims Michelle suffered from “nausea, vomiting, migraines, neck and shoulder pain, dizziness, and severe gastrointestinal distress alternating between prolonged and painful constipation to violent diarrhea.”
- Jerry Gaines used the FasciaBlaster device given to him by Lanum according to “migraine relief protocol” promoted on the FasciaBlaster Facebook page. He eventually “suffered a stroke in June 2017.”
- Julia Lefebvre bought a FasciaBlaster before a cruise to reduce cellulite reduction. She bought a FasciaBlaster and continued blasting after severe bruising but her bruises didn’t fade away. She also fainted after too much stimulation to her vagus nerve. Sue Grlicky, 52, bought a FasciaBlaster after joining the “Ashley Black Guru” Facebook discussion group and reading Black’s book, The Cellulite Myth: It’s Not Fat, It’s Fascia. Sue blasted five times per week and contacted Black about “bad detox” symptoms she underwent. Sue, according to her chiropractor, was diagnosed with a pinched nerve. Grlicky saw a Cleveland Clinic Hospital neurologist who confirmed the pinched nerve diagnosis. Grlicky received MRIs and X-rays, and was prescribed the “neuropathic medication Gabapentin and the pain medication Tramadol.” Sue eventually went to the ER, where doctors asked her if she was in an accident.
Then there is the BPA issue: 6
“Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and thereon allege, that FasciaBlaster has been and is dangerous and defective in its design, and unfit to be used for any purpose by any person, and that Defendants have been on actual and constructive notice of said unfitness at all relevant times. On information and belief, the chemical composition of the plastic in a FasciaBlaster device includes more than 40% Bisphenol A (“BPA”), which can both mimic and antagonize estrogen in the body. Multiple scientific studies link BPA to endocrine system disruption, dating as far back as 1997. Studies have linked BPA’s xenoestrogenic effects to, inter alia, metabolic disease, thyroid disruption, neurological damage, interference with fetal and early childhood development, dopaminergic harms (e.g. attention deficits and increased susceptibility to drug addiction), and multiple cancers (most prominently, breast cancer).”
The lawsuit is requesting a trial by jury.
We know many of our readers have used or are currently using FasciaBlasters. We will continue to monitor this lawsuit.
