Legal News

Four Execs Charged in Tainted-Toothpaste Scandal

By Dan Slater

Before Chinese manufacturers and U.S. distributors became embroiled in allegations of tainted toys, jewelry and petfood, there were allegations involving antifreeze-infused toothpaste — or, to be exact, about a million tubes of Cooldent laced with diethylene glycol, a chemical commonly used in antifreeze solvent that can lead to kidney damage and liver disease.

The tainted paste was discovered last May and recalled in 34 countries. Yesterday, the city attorney in L.A., Rocky Delgadillo, filed criminal charges against four executives at two American companies — Vernon Sales Inc. and the Selective Imports Corporation — who imported the product from China. Here’s the report from the NYT.

At Selective, the president and vice president were charged with two counts of receiving, selling and delivering the tainted products. At Vernon, the president and vice president were charged with 14 counts of receiving, selling and delivering an adulterated drug. The executives charged in the case didn’t return calls from the NYT seeking comment. But Selective’s Ghermezi of Selective told the AP yesterday that he didn’t have “any intention of hurting people” and had not known the ingredients of the toothpaste.

The case is the first instance of criminal charges being filed in the United States against any party in the toothpaste scare, and comes after a suit filed in Missouri against an American company that had imported tainted ingredients used in pet food.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 07, 2008 (boomark / email).