Curaleaf Faces Third Lawsuit For Tainted CBD Drops

It was a massive “Oops we Goofed” from Curaleaf (OTC: CURLF): The company accidentally sold CBD products that had THC in them.

The third lawsuit against Curaleaf has now been filed by an elderly man named Michael Lopez. His case now joins Jason Crawforth and Kathleen Menard who have both filed lawsuits in September saying they also purchased and consumed “Select CBD Drops” in Oregon that affected them. Curaleaf said in a statement at the time, “After our preliminary investigation, we believe this mistake occurred due to unintentional human error.”

Lopez’s lawsuit claims that he was “taken by ambulance to the emergency room out of concerns he was having a stroke, and he experienced harm including unnecessary surgery, fear of death, unwanted confusion, stress, anxiety, psychosis, discomfort, and distress lasting several hours, and interference with life activities.”

Also included in the lawsuit is Lopez’s granddaughter Amy Cantu. She says she experienced harm including unwanted nausea, dizziness, tunnel vision, weakness, confusion, discomfort, and distress lasting several hours. His daughter Susan Lopez-Henri also claimed that she took the drops and experienced harm including feelings of being intoxicated despite being in recovery, possibly requiring her to start a new clean date, unwanted confusion, stress, anxiety, discomfort, and interference with her sobriety and life activities.

Oregon Recall

Oregon regulators have said that a Curaleaf manufacturing facility made a mistake that resulted in hundreds of mislabeled bottles, and that at least a dozen other consumers also took the THC-tainted drops. In September, The Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission has issued a mandatory recall for a product labeled as a hemp tincture that can get consumers “high” because the product contains undisclosed levels of THC.

Consumers using this mislabeled product may become unexpectedly impaired. The recall is for an item labeled as a hemp CBD tincture produced by Cura CS, LLC, and sold under its Select brand. The specific batch of this product Select CBD Drops “Broad Spectrum” Unflavored 1000 MG CBD was only available for purchase through OLCC licensed retailers. ThOLCC then expanded the recall to include Select Tincture 30mL THC Drops – 1000mg Unflavored which is only available for sale at OLCC licensed retailers. The OLCC has conducted preliminary tests of the Select Tincture 30mL THC Drops – 1000mg Unflavored and found that it does NOT contain any detectable THC.

The expanded recall affects Select Tincture 30mL THC Drops – 1000mg Unflavored that was produced on May 14, 2021. The OLCC estimates about 630 units were sold beginning June 29, 2021 and about 130 units are still on the shelves of OLCC retailers.

“We have worked with the [Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission] to recall the two batches in question, and the limited number of remaining units have been removed from sale,” Curaleaf said to Law360. “We sincerely apologize to all customers impacted by this mistake, and we will actively return responses from anyone who reaches out.”

Other Cases

Lopez’s case joins Crawfords who also went to the emergency room after taking the drops. He claimed he needed immediate medical treatment in the Emergency Room, and was unable to drive a car. He also said he had unwanted anxiety, acute psychosis, discomfort, and distress. Menard didn’t say she needed medical attention but did say she had experienced “unwanted hallucinations, confusion, stress, anxiety, psychosis, discomfort, and distress lasting over 24 hours.”