By Wes Siegner & Ricardo Carvajal – The FTC has closed its investigation of Pharmavite’s advertising campaign for CholestOff dietary supplements, which contain free form phytosterols and are promoted to lower cholesterol. According to the April 2009 letter, Pharmavite used “advertising and labeling claims …
By JP Ellison – In a Memorandum to the heads of Executive Departments and Agencies dated May 20, 2009, with the Subject Line “Preemption” (the “May 20, 2009 Memorandum”), President Obama stated that “executive departments and agencies have sometimes announced that their regulations preempt State …
By Ricardo Carvajal – On May 11, FDA announced the condemnation and forfeiture of $1.3 million worth of dietary supplements marketed to body builders because the supplements contain “one or more unapproved food additives and/or new dietary ingredients for which there is inadequate information to …
By Ricardo Carvajal & John R. Fleder – In Federal Trade Commission v. Medlab, Inc., the United States District Court for the Northern District of California granted summary judgment on April 21, 2009, to the FTC in an action against a marketer of weight loss products, which …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Among the myriad proposals to overhaul the nation’s ailing food safety system, at least one calls for splitting off FDA’s food safety programs and incorporating them into a new Food Safety Administration ("FSA") within the U.S. Department of Health and Human …
In the latest “Enforcement Corner” column for the Food and Drug Law Institute’s Update publication, Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. attorneys JP Ellison and John R. Fleder discuss the indictment, trial, conviction, and sentencing of Berkeley Nutraceuticals’ former in-house counsel Paul Kellogg. Mr. Kellogg’s conviction …
By Riëtte van Laack – The U.S. Government Accountability Office ("GAO") has released a report that calls for FDA to take further actions to improve oversight and consumer understanding of dietary supplements. In its 2009 Report, GAO reviews developments since its previous report in 2000. Significant …
By Wes Siegner – In April 2005, FDA published guidance for industry on dietary supplement labeling, “A Dietary Supplement Labeling Guide.” Chapter II of this guidance contains FDA’s views on how to fulfill the statement of identity requirement for dietary supplements contained in 21 C.F.R. § …
By Cassandra A. Soltis & Wes Siegner – Previously we have commented on FDA’s draft guidance originally issued on January 2, 2008 and recently reissued again in draft form on December 11, 2008 (here and here). Both draft guidance documents assert that, in the Dietary …
By Ricardo Carvajal – In January 2008, FDA received a citizen petition asking it to “issue a formal determination that when applied to foods and dietary supplements, California's Proposition 65 causes consumer confusion, ‘misbrands’ safe and wholesome products, and frustrates FDA's ability to carry out …
The latest issue of the Food and Drug Law Institute’s “Update” magazine features articles written by four Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. attorneys. The first article, titled “Imported Products – FDA Is Not Fooling Around,” was written by Dara Katcher Levy and John R. Fleder. It …
By Diane B. McColl & Ricardo Carvajal – In response to a citizen petition filed on behalf of a pharmaceutical company, FDA has determined that products containing pyridoxamine (a form of vitamin B6) are not dietary supplements within the meaning of FDC Act § 201(ff) and …
By Ricardo Carvajal – A report issued by Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies ("PEN"), a partnership between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Pew Charitable Trusts, concludes that FDA is not prepared to effectively regulate dietary supplements that use “engineered nanomaterials” due to …
Ricardo Carvajal of Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. will be moderating panels or speaking in two upcoming conferences that address dietary supplement and food regulatory issues. The first is a Food and Drug Law Institute conference titled “What you Need to Know Now about Emerging …
By Riëtte van Laack – On January 16, 2009, FDA announced the availability of its final guidance for industry, titled “Evidence-Based Review System for the Scientific Evaluation of Health Claims” (“2009 guidance”). At the same time, the Agency withdrew the 2003 “Guidance for Industry and …
