Have you taken your Airborne today? Good, don't.

I coughed once. I sneezed twice, three times at the most. Before I knew it, my mother was filling my cup of water with two yellowish tablets the size of quarters. "It's Airborne. Drink it all. Now!", she says. I swallow the tepid, somewhat unsettling, effervescently bubbling water and hope it will have no adverse effects. My mother then assured me that I would not be ill. She promised I would be as good as new in mere minutes. She was wrong.

Airborne: the Effervescent Health Formula is marketed as "the best-selling herbal health formula that boosts your immune system to help your body combat germs. It was created by a former second-grade school teacher, Victoria Knight-McDowell, who was constantly exposed to germs in her classroom". For several years now, Airborne has been the panacea for middle-aged housewives across America. This "miracle" herbal supplement has recently run into a spot of trouble that even Airborne's essential vitamins and herbs cannot solve.

The company, based in Bonita Springs, Fla., has agreed to pay $23.3 million to settle a class-action lawsuit brought against the company for falsely claiming its vitamins prevented colds. Anyone who has purchased Airborne is entitled to a refund. The lawsuit was lead by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit advocacy group that accused Airborne of having "no credible evidence that [it] prevents colds or protects consumers from germs". In addition to the million dollar settlement, Airborne has also agreed to pay for ads in several magazines alerting consumers where they can receive their small part of the settlement money.

After flying high on their creation, Airborne founders were snatched from atop their home-remedy pedestal when ABC's Good Morning America did some of their famous investigative reporting. The same media outlets that helped them rise to the top of the "dietary supplement cleverly disguised as a cure-all" game, was now revealing that perhaps there was more to the story than what was shown on Oprah. Apparently Airborne's claims that it has been scientifically proven to do what the box says was challenged when it was discovered that their much-touted lone clinical trial was actually conducted without any doctors or scientists, just a “two-man operation started up just to do the Airborne study.”

Airborne has responded with an open letter on their website thanking their loyal customers for remaining loyal. This kind of PR crisis is not new. The vitamin and drug aisle of the grocery store is rife with the kind of FDA scandals that might frighten the general public. However, those who are dead-set on claiming that Airborne saved them from the ever-treacherous common cold will most likely not turn away from their beloved herbal supplement. Although, 23 million dollars is ALOT of money, but that is something accounting has to deal with. From a PR point of view, all Airborne has to worry about is having their loyal fans find them when they are moved from the drug aisle to the supplement aisle.