BD&P Secures Significant Victory in Rare Class Action Trial

BD&P, along with its class co-counsel, has achieved a significant trial win in the national class action against Jamieson Laboratories Ltd. and WN Pharmaceuticals Ltd., with the British Columbia Supreme Court ruling in favour of the plaintiffs on key common issues. The Court found that the defendants sold federally regulated natural health products labelled as containing glucosamine sulfate when, in fact, the products did not contain any glucosamine sulfate. The Court concluded that consumers are entitled to receive the product as labelled.

Why This Result Matters

Class actions rarely proceed all the way to trial. Most are resolved at certification, through preliminary motions or by settlement before evidence is fully tested in court. This case is particularly noteworthy because it involved a lengthy, hard-fought common issues trial spanning 32 days over a year with numerous expert witnesses. Justice Branch described the proceedings as "hotly contested," with multiple interim rulings issued throughout the process. 

It is even more unusual for plaintiffs to achieve a victory on key common issues in a class action trial. Defendants often seek to defeat certification, narrow issues, or avoid broad findings that could support liability. Here, the Court found that the defendants' products were held out as containing glucosamine sulfate but did not actually contain glucosamine sulfate, resolving a central factual dispute in favour of the class. 

The Court's Reasoning

Justice Branch used memorable analogies to explain the principle at stake. The Court observed that a seller cannot market "horses with affixed narwhal tusks as unicorns, even if unicorns do not exist", nor can a manufacturer sell something as a rose and then argue that a different product is effectively equivalent "no matter how sweet what you are selling smells". The Court repeatedly emphasized that consumers are entitled to receive what the seller says it is selling.  

The ruling found that the defendants labelled their natural health products as glucosamine sulfate, but that none of the products actually contained glucosamine sulfate. Rather, the products contained a physical mixture of glucosamine hydrochloride and potassium sulfate. Neither substance is disclosed as an ingredient on any of the labels. As a result, the Court concluded that the defendants had held the products out as something they were not. 

Consumers are entitled to receive the product they were promised. This decision reinforces a fundamental principle of consumer protection: companies cannot label a product as one thing and sell something else. That is even more important in the context of natural health products that people consume.

A David-and-Goliath Story

This decision reflects a core aspect of BD&P's litigation practice: while BD&P often represents defendants in class actions, when merited, it also represents those seeking accountability from large institutions. In this case, BD&P acts for individual consumer class members residing across Canada against major national supplement manufacturers. The Court's reasons for judgment reinforce the principle that natural health product consumers are equally entitled to truthful product representations and that they can hold large nutraceutical corporations accountable when what is sold does not match its labels.

While issues of ultimate liability and damages remain to be determined in later phases of the common issues trial, the ruling represents a major milestone and a significant strategic victory for the plaintiff class. As Paul Chiswell noted in sharing the decision internally, the judgment resolved numerous common issues and established that the defendants were not selling what they said they were selling. 

This result showcases BD&P's ability to take complex, high-stakes class actions through trial and secure meaningful outcomes on behalf of consumers facing much larger opponents. 

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Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer LLP (BD&P) is a leading Canadian business law firm based in Calgary, Alberta. Our litigators act for Canadian and international clients in complex, high-stakes commercial disputes. We bring deep courtroom experience and a practical, business-focused approach to resolving disputes.