The Federal Court is ordering UK consumer goods corporation Reckitt Benckiser to pay a AU$1.7 Million fine for telling Australians that its Nurofen pain reliever can target different kinds of pain.  It's far less than the $6 Million that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) wanted.

Nurofen's range of "pain specific" products came in color-coded packaging depending on the consumer's malady, be it back pain, menstrual pain, headache pain, et cetera.  But it turned out that hue was the only significant difference.  Despite costing twice as much as standard Nurofen products, the specialized packages contained the exact same active ingredient - 342 milligrams of ibuprofen lysine - and each did the same thing.

"Nurofen did not intend to mislead consumers, however we recognize that we could have done more to assist our consumers in navigating the Nurofen Specific Pain Range,"said a Nurofen spokeswoman.  "That is, to show that each of the products in the range is equally effective for the other pains indicated on the Nurofen Specific Pain Range packaging," she said.

The judge said that despite misleading consumers into paying more for the same old pill, the products were still effective at treating the pain they "represented". and did no harm - therefore, he did not order the company to pay the higher fine requested by regulators.

ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said that "a penalty of at least $6 Million was appropriate in order to send a strong deterrence message", and his agency will study the ruling. 

And considering that Reckitt Benckiser had a net income of more than AU$3.3 Billion in 2015, even the ACCC's requested fine would be barely a drop in the ocean.

"A $1.7 million fine is nothing compared to the profit Reckitt Benckiser would have made from tricking customers into paying a premium for products that weren't any more effective than cheaper generic pain relief pills," said Tom Godfrey of the consumer group Choice.  "Even the highest available fine under the law would have only been $6 million, which is pocket change for these giant companies."