Held v. Chattem, Inc.

Whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.’s allegations against defendant Chattem, Inc. (“Chattem”) were resolved on August 1, 2014, when the parties executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement.  In this matter, Held alleged that Chattem sold sunscreens containing the chemical benzophenone in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Chattem agreed not to sell any sunscreens containing benzophenone in California after August 1, 2014, unless the sunscreens contain no detectable amount of benzophenone when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $34,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.