On September 2, 2016, the Food and Drug Administration, FDA, enacted a final rule banning the sale of some antibacterial soaps. The ban includes liquid and bar soaps containing, among other active chemicals, the most commonly used triclosan and triclocarban. The manufacturers could not prove that the antibacterial soaps were any more effective than regular
In yet another unsurprising case of Big Pharma trying to control the fate of millions of Americans’ health, Insys Therapeutics has donated $500,000 to an anti-legalization of marijuana campaign in Arizona known as Proposition 205. Pro-legalization advocates view the half million dollar donation as a further attempt to line the pockets of powerful drug corporations
In June, 2016, the Inspector General, Daniel R. Levinson, notified Robert M. Califf, M.D., Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Food and Drug Administration, FDA, that, as a result of an ongoing audit his office was conducting, it was found that the method that the FDA used to initiate a food recall was inefficient and ineffective.
The FDA cited various reasons for the violations in its press release. As an example, the agency cited that the filter on the Camel Crush Bold cigarettes contain a capsule that when crushed, releases additional menthol flavoring. The agency found that the feature creates a significant difference from products that existed prior to the law. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids president Matthew Myers praised the decision, believing that the Camel Crush cigarettes “deliver menthol differently and at higher levels, have added sugars and other sweeteners, new filters, and tested differently for harmful and potentially harmful constituents.” According to Myers, Camel is the most popular cigarette brand among young smokers.
The regulator sent the letters to the Olympus, Fujifilm, and Pentax as part of an effort to fight against a wave of deadly bacterial infections attributed to the insufficient cleaning and sterilization of the devices. Duodenoscopes are reusable flexible tubes that go down the throat in order to treat gastrointestinal tract ailments.
Indeed the social media age has brought a new wrinkle in the FDA’s regulatory agenda. Social media marketing schemes are often designed to appear casual and conversational, as if friends are discussing an issue over coffee. While certainly not illegal and for the most part, and a useful form of advertisement, FDA risk statements rarely fit within 144 character-limit social-media parameters.
7/29/2015 Mexican food has certainly been known to wreak havoc on weak stomachs, but for some consumers of cilantro, it may be more than just the spices that has caused indigestion. The Food and Drug Administration issued an import ban on cilantro yesterday from the Mexican state of Puebla after U.S. and Mexican authorities investigated
7/24/2015 The U.S. Probation Office has recommended that the former owner of Peanut Corporation of America, Stewart Parnell, be sentenced to life in prison for allowing several shipments of peanuts from facilities infected with salmonella. The peanuts led to the deadliest food outbreak in U.S. history from 2008-2009, causing nine deaths and over 700 illnesses
7/23/2015 Los Angeles Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliance officer Dr. Raymond W. Brullo issued a scathing warning letter to Thomas Ring, the CEO of New Jersey-based device manufacturer C.R. Bard. The letter contained a litany of violations regarding several single-use devices for IVC and foreign body retrieval. The letter follows a series of inspections
In a landmark investigation released this week, the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) uncovered the alarmingly small and insular circle of experts who are used by food manufacturers to determine if a new ingredient is “Generally Regarded As Safe,” or GRAS. The investigation discovered that at least one of 10 particular consultants participated in over