Rubbish Check
Forbes Business · July 29, 2026 source

“FTC Claims Hims & Hers Charged Patients Without Consent And Shared Health Data With Big Tech”

R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates Forbes' headline on the FTC's Hims & Hers lawsuit a 2/10 because it accurately frames the claims as allegations ("Claims") and both core accusations, unconsented charges and data-sharing, are drawn directly from the FTC's own complaint.
The Verdict
Lightly altered, and barely that. The headline hedges correctly with "Claims" rather than asserting the allegations as proven fact, and both elements it names, unauthorized charging and health-data sharing, are lifted straight from the FTC's filing. The only stretch is labeling Meta and Snap collectively as "Big Tech," a shorthand that's defensible for Meta but generous for Snap, a minor word choice, not a distortion of the substance.

What actually happened

The FTC, joined by California and Utah, sued Hims & Hers Health in the Northern District of California, alleging violations of the FTC Act and the Restore Online Shoppers' Confidence Act. This is confirmed by the FTC's own case docket, which lists a press release titled "FTC and States Act Against Hims & Hers for Deceptive and Unlawful Privacy Practices" filed the same day. Hims & Hers publicly disputed the claims as "baseless" the same day.

Key facts

  • Lawsuit filed Wednesday, July 29, 2026, in the Northern District of California by the FTC plus California and Utah.
  • Complaint alleges patients were shown "Pay $0 today" and charged as soon as a provider wrote a prescription, without a chance to review or decline; one customer was allegedly charged $897 before ever speaking to a clinician.
  • Complaint alleges cancellation was buried behind an "Add/remove items from order" button that never used the word "cancel."
  • Complaint alleges health data on conditions like erectile dysfunction and hair loss was shared with ad platforms including Meta and Snap despite promises the service was "100% online, private and secure."
  • Hims & Hers stock fell more than 11% the day the suit was announced; the company says the FTC probe ran nearly three years before filing.

What to watch for

  • Hims & Hers' next earnings call, August 10, should reveal how management is quantifying legal exposure.
  • Watch for the company's formal answer to the complaint; its public statement so far is combative but not yet a legal rebuttal.
  • Other outlets' headlines will show whether "Big Tech" framing spreads or gets refined to "Meta and Snap" specifically.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
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