Wrongful Substitution of Medical Food Products Leads to Lawsuit

Reportedly, pharmacies, such as CVS and Walgreens, have been administrating alleged medical food generics which may not be therapeutically equivalent to the branded prescription product. As a result, consumers who were dispensed certain medical food generics instead of the prescription product may be able to participate in a class action lawsuit to recover compensation.

Some of these generics that pharmacists dispensed include:

• Folast, Neurpath-B or Duleek-Met as a Metanx generic
• LMethylfolate calcium tablets as a Deplin generic
• PNV Iron as a Neevo substitute
• PNV-DHA Plus as a Neevo DHA substitute
• Enfolast as Cerefolin generic
• Enfolast-N as a CerefolinNAC substitute

Medical Food Generics May Not Be Equivalent

Metanx, Deplin, Neevo, Neevo DHA, Cerefolin and CerefolinNAC are advertised as having a unique formulation which provides active forms of folate and certain B vitamins to manage specific nutritional needs. Unlike products containing folic acid, Metanx, Deplin, Neevo, Neevo DHA, Cerefolin and CerefolinNAC have the active, naturally occurring form of folate (L-methylfolate) used by the body. Reportedly, Folast, Neurpath-B, Duleek-Met, LMethylfolate Calcium Tablets, PNV Iron, PNV-DHA Plus, Enfolast and Enfolast-N do not contain this specific formula; therefore, they are not therapeutically equivalent and should not be dispensed as medical food generics for the branded prescription products mentioned above.

Pharmacists Cautioned on Medical Food Generics

Various pharmacies were sent pharmacy alerts which indicated that the labels on the alleged medical food generics for Metanx, Deplin, Neevo, Neevoa DHA, Cerefolin and CerefolinNAC neither state nor imply that they are generic substitutes or therapeutically equivalent to the prescription products. Furthermore, according to PamLab, which manufactures Metanx, Deplin, Neevo, Neevoa DHA, Cerefolin and CerefolinNAC, the manufacturer of the medical food generics has not presented any information to indicate that the generic substitutes are equivalent to the prescription products. In fact, PamLab publicly announced that the manufacturer of the alleged medical food generic products did not perform any tests in compliance with widely used quality control or good manufacturing practices. Regardless, many pharmacies continue to substitute Metanx, Deplin, Neevo, Neevoa DHA, Cerefolin and CerefolinNAC with nonequivalent medical food generics.

Medical Food Generics: Class Action

Consumers who were dispensed any of the aforementioned medical food generics may be able to participate in a class action lawsuit to recover the cost of the medical products. These class action lawsuits would allow a large number of consumers the chance to collectively bring a legal claim for compensation.