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Life Alert Drops 2 of 3 Claims Against Consumer Site

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May 26, 2004
Life Alert has withdrawn two of three claims in its lawsuit against ConsumerAffairs.com. The home medical alarm company dropped its libel and unfair competition charges but is continuing to press its trademark infringement complaint.

"We're grateful that the First Amendment enables us to meet our readers' need for untainted consumer information," said ConsumerAffairs.com Founder & CEO James R. Hood. "We will continue to put our readers' interests first and will vigorously resist those who try to silence us."

In a Los Angeles Superior Court filing earlier this week, ConsumerAffairs.com argued that it was exercising its First Amendment rights through its publication of consumers' comments about their experiences with the home alarm service. Also, the filing said Life Alert "could not demonstrate a probability of prevailing on any of its causes of action."

ConsumerAffairs.com's filing argued that, because of increasing concern with consumer scams against the elderly, Life Alert's activities are a legitimate public issue.

A June 23 hearing is scheduled before Judge Rita Miller on the trademark infringement claim.

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In the complaints about Life Alert, elderly consumers and their relatives complained about Life Alert's contract terms, its sales practices and service problems with the alarm system.

In a typical complaint about the company's contract terms, a Georgia woman wrote: "After the death of my father, we contacted Life Alert to inform them we would no longer be in need of the system. We were informed ... we needed to continue to pay for the contract" even though the alarm was no longer needed.

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