Leda Health, a Pittsburgh company that makes at-home rape kits, settles false claims lawsuit

The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Thursday announced a settlement with a Pittsburgh company that sells at-home rape kits.

Under the terms of the settlement, Leda Health must provide a written warning that its products do not meet the same standards as hospital-based evidence collection services.

The state sued Leda Health in June 2024 alleging the company and its CEO and co-founder, Bridgeville native Madison Campbell, were making false claims in the marketing of their Early Evidence Kit.

Leda sold the products to sexual assault survivors for collecting and storing evidence themselves when they could not obtain a traditional forensic exam.

The attorney general’s lawsuit was filed the day after Leda filed a federal lawsuit against the agency that included claims of coercion and retaliation, alleging the attorney general interfered with the company’s right to aid survivors of sexual assault.

Leda Health, originally formed in New York under the name Me Too Kits, moved to Pennsylvania in 2023 with offices in Lawrenceville.

A message left with the company was not returned on Thursday. An attorney for Leda declined to comment.

The attorney general’s office alleged in a complaint in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court that the company was violating Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law by representing the kits to be a substitute for hospital services and providing value in criminal prosecutions.

“We must strongly support and advocate for sexual abuse survivors, and part of that support involves providing them with accurate information as they navigate the difficult road following a traumatic incident,” Attorney General Dave Sunday said in a news release.

“As a career prosecutor, I am keenly aware of the sensitive time period following an assault, and maintain that the best options for a survivor is to seek treatment and help at a hospital or rape crisis center.”

As part of the settlement, Leda must provide “clear and conspicuous” written warnings to consumers in the kits, as well as online.

In addition, the company must also implement a data security program to protect the sensitive data it collects and stores obtained from sexual assault survivors and make clear to whom they share that data.

According to the court settlement, filed on Wednesday, Leda Health denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The company must also pay the commonwealth’s’s costs for the litigation, totaling $4,800.83, within seven days.

The settlement ends both the Allegheny County suit filed by the attorney general as well as the federal lawsuit Leda filed.

In that case, U.S. District Cathy Bissoon in January granted the attorney general’s motion to dismiss. An appeal Leda filed with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was denied on Wednesday.

In a motion Leda filed in February following the federal court’s dismissal, the company disclosed it was in dire financial straits and was in danger of closing — in part because because of the state court litigation.

“Leda Health is a small company that will be forced to dissolve by the burdens and cost of defending against defendant Sunday’s unconstitutional state action. Ms. Campbell is a young, private citizen who will face correspondingly high legal fees, which will either force her into bankruptcy or deplete her young life savings,” her attorney wrote.

They claimed the attorney general’s office “filed their state lawsuit not to protect consumers, but to make this federal case go away.”

”They succeeded.”