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 Gwyneth Paltrow’s company has agreed to pay $145,000 to settle allegations of unscientific claims 
  
 Goop to pay out over unproven health benefits of vaginal eggs 
  
 Goop, the new age lifestyle and publishing company founded by the actor Gwyneth Paltrow, has agreed to pay a substantial settlement over unproven claims about the health benefits of its infamous vaginal eggs. 
  
 Goop’s website still claims that inserting the eggs into the vagina helps “cultivate sexual energy, clear chi pathways in the body, intensify femininity, and invigorate our life force”. 
  
 Its $66 Jade Egg and $55 Rose Quartz egg are still offered for sale on the site, but the company has agreed to pay $145,000 to settle allegations that it previously made unscientific claims about the eggs, and a herbal essence that it had said helped tackle depression. 
  
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 It also agreed to refund customers who purchased the products from January to August last year. 
  
 During that period it claimed the eggs could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse, and increase bladder control, according to officials in Santa Clara part of a group of California district attorneys who filed the lawsuit. 
  
 The Santa Clara district attorney, Jeff Rosen, said: “The health and money of Santa Clara County residents should never be put at risk by misleading advertising. We will vigilantly protect consumers against companies that promise health benefits without the support of good science … or any science.” 
  
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 Under the settlement Goop is banned from making any claims regarding the efficacy of its products without reliable scientific evidence. 
  
 Goop has defended unorthodox health practices in the face of legal challenges and concerns by consumer watchdogs about its products. But in July Paltrow announced that Goop had hired an in-house fact checker for its website. 
  
 In a statement to Bloomberg, Goop explained why it agreed to settle. Erica Moore, its chief financial officer, said: “Goop provides a forum for practitioners to present their views and experiences with various products like the Jade Egg. 
  
 “The law, though, sometimes views statement like this as advertising claims, which are subject to various legal requirements.” 
  
  ||||| Goop, the lifestyle brand founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, will offer refunds to California customers to settle a lawsuit filed by 10 state counties alleging the company did not have scientific backing for the touted health benefits of its line of vaginal eggs. 
  
 The eggs became the target of criticism from a multitude of medical professionals and consumer protection groups. 
  
 At issue were the company’s Jade Egg, the Rose Quartz Egg, and the Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend. Goop claimed the first two products — egg-shaped stones meant to be inserted vaginally and left in for varying lengths of time — could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent uterine prolapse, and increase bladder control. 
  
 The company claimed the blend — a mix of essential oils that could be consumed orally or added to bathwater — prevented depression. 
  
 The settlement was announced Tuesday by the involved counties — Santa Clara, Alameda, Marin, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Santa Cruz, Orange, Monterey and Shasta — that are part of the state’s Food Drug and Medical Device Task Force. 
  
 “We will vigilantly protect consumers against companies that promise health benefits without the support of good science…or any science,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. 
  
 Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley lauded the task force’s work and added that “false claims that assure consumers of specific health outcomes can put the public at risk.” 
  
 Paltrow’s company stood by its claims about the three products, stressing that the settlement was not an admission to the task force’s allegations, and that it had not received complaints about the items. 
  
 “While goop believes there is an honest disagreement about these claims, the company wanted to settle this matter quickly and amicably,” the company said in a statement Tuesday. 
  
 Goop chalked up the conflict as a chance to reconcile its practitioners’ “views and experiences with various products like the jade egg” with legal regulations that interpret such views as advertising claims. 
  
 “The Task Force assisted us in applying those laws to the content we published, and we appreciate their guidance in this matter as we move from a pioneer in this space to an established wellness authority,” Erica Moore, Goop’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. 
  
 Various news releases from the Cailfornia district attorneys who filed the suit stated that Goop and its legal counsel were cooperative during their settlement negotiations. In addition to the refund offers — the eggs retailed for $66 apiece — and $145,000 in civil fines, Goop is formally barred from making claims about its products’ effectiveness without requisite scientific evidence, and from selling misbranded, unapproved, or falsely advertised medical devices. 
  
 The company’s products and claims have been a running source of criticism by consumer groups and medical professionals. That includes Dr. Jennifer Gunter, an OB-GYN with Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco who famously lambasted the eggs in a series of online essays, and the nonprofit Truth in Advertising who last year called on the state task force to investigate how the Los Angeles-based company promotes its products. 
  
 Jennifer Deng, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney in the office’s consumer protection unit, said the lawsuit was spurred in part by complaints from doctors, and that various experts were tapped to evaluate the substance of the Goop products’ touted benefits. She hopes that both consumers and companies take a lesson from the result. 
  
 “It was a good outcome to get restitution back for individuals who might have been taken by some of these claims,” Deng said. “Consumers should, when it comes to a health issue, really research whatever product they’re using. For companies, I hope the takeaway is they need to back up claims with scientific evidence, or stop making these claims.” 
  
 The refund offers announced Tuesday apply strictly to California customers who purchased any of the three affected products between Jan. 12, 2017 and Aug. 31, 2017. Refunds can be requested by contacting Goop customer service by calling 844-WTF-GOOP or emailing customerservice@goop.com. ||||| Made of heart-activating rose quartz—associated with positive energy and love—this yoni egg is associated with the heart chakra. Please be sure to follow the instructions included with your egg. 
  
  
  
  
  
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 ADD TO WAITLIST ||||| SAN JOSE (CBS SF) — Goop Inc., a women’s lifestyle brand founded by actress Gwyneth Paltrow, has agreed to a $145,000 settlement in a lawsuit filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office over false advertising. 
  
 Prosecutors from Santa Clara and eight other counties including Napa, Alameda, Marin, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma, alleged that three of Goop’s female sexual health products were misleading and medically unsupported. 
  
 Goop advertised the Jade and Rose Quartz eggs as cure-alls for several female health and hormonal issues, according to prosecutors. The egg-shaped stones are meant to be inserted into the vagina and left in place for varying amounts of time. 
  
 The company said its stones and the Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend, taken orally or added to bathwater, could balance hormones, regulate menstrual cycles, prevent depression, prevent uterine prolapse and a combination of other illnesses, according to prosecutors. 
  
 Though the products are still available on Goop’s website, the company has said it will fully refund customers who purchased the products between Jan. 12 and Aug. 31, 2017, according to prosecutors. 
  
 Heather Wilson, a spokeswoman for Goop, Tuesday stressed the settlement addresses advertising claims, and not the three products themselves. The company has not received any complaints regarding these product claims, she added. 
  
 In a formal statement, Goop said, “While Goop believes there is an honest disagreement about these claims, the company wanted to settle this matter quickly and amicably.” 
  
 Prosecutors said Goop will also be prohibited from making claims about its products without having reliable scientific evidence, or selling medical devices that are unapproved or falsely advertised. 
  
 “The health and money of Santa Clara County residents should never be put at risk by misleading advertising,” District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement. “We will vigilantly protect consumers against companies that promise health benefits without the support of good science…or any science.” 
  
 Prosecutors said Goop cooperated with all legal proceedings. 
  
 © Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |||||
What is a summary?
– If you don't buy the idea that inserting an egg-shaped stone into your vagina can do wonders for your health and hormones, well, neither did 10 California counties. They're part of the state's Food, Drug and Medical Device Task Force, and they banded together to sue the Gwyneth Paltrow-led Goop, reports the Mercury News. They alleged the $66 Jade Egg and $55 Rose Quartz Egg, as well as a third female sexual health-related product pushed by the company, promised health benefits that weren't backed up by science. Goop will settle the suit for $145,000, CBS San Francisco reports. A rep for Goop emphasized that the issue wasn't the products, and that the settlement only related to the advertising claims, which Goop still holds are true. "While Goop believes there is an honest disagreement about these claims, the company wanted to settle this matter quickly and amicably," Goop said in a statement, which noted it hasn't fielded complaints from customers. You can judge for yourself: The eggs remain available online. Californians who purchased one or the Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend between Jan. 12 and Aug. 31, 2017, can receive a refund by calling 844-WTF-GOOP or emailing customerservice@goop.com. The Guardian reports that during those months, Goop's website touted the eggs' ability to balance hormones, prevent uterine prolapse, regulate menstrual cycles, and increase bladder control. Now it describes them as "used by women to increase sexual energy and pleasure."