Medical ethicist Art Caplan's long-standing feud with Great Skin-Haver and Powerful Kale Witch Gwyneth Paltrow has taken a turn in Caplan’s favor.
The Goop Guru agreed to pay $145,000 to settle allegations her health and beauty company made unscientific claims on three of its products, including the infamous Jade Egg.
According to the fine purveyors of psychic vampire repellent and a $244 toothpaste dispenser over at Goop.com, the Jade Egg ($66, still available for sale!) and the slightly cheaper but still just as powerful Rose Quartz Egg ($55), when inserted vaginally, can “help cultivate sexual energy, increase orgasm, balance the cycle, stimulate key reflexology around vaginal walls, tighten and tone, prevent uterine prolapse, increase control of the whole perineum and bladder, develop and clear chi pathways in the body, intensify feminine energy, and invigorate our life force… to name a few!”
In a lawsuit against Goop, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and nine other state prosecutors said the medical claims were "not supported by competent and reliable science."
The suit also named the $22 Inner Judge Flower Essence Blend, an oil blend that Goop claims will aid with depression when added to bath water.
“Finally after continuing barrages of enemy fire from the likes of me, Gwyneth Paltrow seems to have met her match in California district attorneys,” Caplan said. “They said no more life force, no more chi, no more vaginal eggs, it doesn’t work.”
According to the settlement, Paltrow can still sell the eggs, but she cannot claim that they have any kind of real medical impact. “She can sell a vaginal egg, but it doesn’t do anything,” Caplan said. “Hooray for reason, it’s rare these days that we get any kind of a victory of that sort.”
To hear Art Caplan’s interview on Boston Public Radio, click on the audio player above.
