Nov 12, 2008 6:17 am US/Eastern
Victoria's Secret Customer Sues Over Bra Rash
Woman Says 'Very Sexy' Bras Caused Her To Break Out
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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A Victoria's Secret customer has filed a lawsuit after she claims she came down with a serious rash due to a bra she bought from the store.
CBS
They're designed to make women feel beautiful, but one woman says a well-known brand of bras could make you sick. She's now pursuing a class-action lawsuit over a "secret" that she says women need to know.
Roberta Ritter bought a bra from the Victoria's Secret "Very Sexy" line, but there's nothing sexy about what she says happened next.
Ritter is suing the lingerie giant claiming the "Very Sexy Extreme Me Push-Up" and "Angel's Secret Embrace" bras she bought caused painful rashes and burns on her chest.
"It hurt, it actually hurt. It was like the patches were so dry it was like sandpaper. It burned," she said.
She maintains the bras contained a chemical – suspected to be formaldehyde – and that led to her break-out.
"Some people can have allergies to formaldehyde or formaldehyde resin, and typically you would see this as a rash in areas around the bra or around the waistband, areas where there is close contact," says Dermatologist Dr. Doris Day.
"It was itching, and it was welts," says Ritter. "And it was the shape of a bra and it was just bizarre."
And Ritter isn't the only customer to get sick.
"I was trying hydrocortisone creams, Benadryl, antihistamines, anything over the counter to try and stop this itch," said Victoria's Secret customer Vicki Kulos.
"I thought I had spider bites all over my chest. I quit wearing the bras and it went away eventually," added Melissa Yacoullo, also affected by the bras.
Dozens of other women have also complained about similar rashes and breakouts on the Web site MedHelp.org.
In response to the complaints and the alleged chemical contamination, Victoria's Secret had this to say:
"We have strict quality controls around our products and we do not use formaldehyde in our bras. Customer safety and satisfaction are always our primary concerns, and we take very seriously any issues our customers may have with our products."
Dr. Day says formaldehyde resins are often added to make clothes more wrinkle-resistant. She says formaldehyde itself is rarely used these days.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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