Don’t let ‘FDA-approved’ or ‘patented’ in ads give you a false sense of security

  If you’ve ever reached for a bottle of moisturizer labeled “patented” or “FDA approved,” you might want to think twice. In a recent study of hundreds of advertisements, I found that supplements and beauty products often misleadingly use these terms to suggest safety or efficacy.

  As a law professor, I suspect this is confusing for consumers, maybe even dangerous. Having a patent means only that you can stop others from making, using, selling, or importing your invention. It doesn’t mean the invention works or that it won’t blow up in your face.

Dietary supplements and protein powders fall under a ‘wild west’ of unregulated products that necessitate caveats and caution

  Dietary supplements are a big business. The industry made almost US$39 billion in revenue in 2022, and with very little regulation and oversight, it stands to keep growing.

  The marketing of dietary supplements has been quite effective, with 77% of Americans reporting feeling that the supplement industry is trustworthy. The idea of taking your health into your own hands is appealing, and supplements are popular with athletes, parents, and people trying to recover more quickly from a cold or flu, just to name a few.

Food expiration dates don’t have much science behind them – a food safety researcher explains another way to know what’s too old to eat

  Florida’s outbreak of listeria has so far led to at least one death, 22 hospitalizations, and an ice cream recall since January. Humans get sick with listeria infections, or listeriosis, from eating soil-contaminated food, undercooked meat or dairy products that are raw, or unpasteurized. Listeria can cause convulsions, coma, miscarriage, and birth defects. And it’s the third leading cause of food poisoning deaths in the U.S.

  Avoiding unseen food hazards is the reason people often check the dates on food packaging. And printed with the month and year is often one of a dizzying array of phrases: “best by,” “use by,” “best if used before,” “best if used by,” “guaranteed fresh until,” “freeze by” and even a “born on” label applied to some beer.

E-cigarettes get FDA approval: 5 essential reads on the harms and benefits of vaping

  After being on the U.S. market for around 15 years, an e-cigarette has, for the first time, been authorized for sale by the Food and Drug Administration.

  The government agency announced on Oct. 12 that three products from the vaping company Vuse had been given the green light to be marketed, along with one device in which the approved cartridges are placed.

What does full FDA approval of a vaccine do if it’s already authorized for emergency use?

  Thirty percent of unvaccinated American adults say they’re waiting for the COVID-19 vaccines currently authorized for emergency use to be officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA has since granted that approval for those age 16 and older for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Aug. 23, 2021. What had to happen for the FDA to advance from emergency use authorization, or EUA, to full approval?

How religious fervor and anti-regulation zealotry laid the groundwork for America’s $36 billion supplement industry

  Spend any time watching television or scrolling through social media and you’ll inevitably see advertisements for pills, powders, and potions that promise to grow muscle, shed body fat, improve your focus, and resurrect your youth.

  Most of us have used them. At last count, the National Center for Health Statistics found that over 50% of all adults in America have used a supplement in the past 30 days. The center used data from 2017 and 2018, but more recent polls suggest this figure to be closer to over 70%.

Ban the FDA rather than menthol cigarettes

  While many states are finally re-legalizing marijuana, the Food and Drug Administration is planning to ban the sale of menthol cigarettes. The reason? Because cigarette smoking is harmful. It causes cancer. Thus, the nanny state deems it necessary to protect us from menthol cigarettes. 

  But wait a minute! If the concern is cigarette smoking and cancer, why ban only menthol cigarettes? Why not ban the sale of all cigarettes? 

Vaccine mandates vs. religious beliefs – the legal arguments for the upcoming coronavirus lawsuits

  The longer COVID-19 rages on, the more the United States appears to be hanging its hopes on the development and rapid, mass distribution of a vaccine.

  Getting a safe and effective vaccine out to the public could be a game-changer health experts believe. But stopping the virus’s spread will only happen if enough people choose – or are required – to get vaccinated.

  But while some people may see it as their “patriotic duty” to get vaccinated, others won’t.

Why are SNAP benefits so confusing that even social workers can’t figure them out?

  Crystal Ortiz, a master’s student studying social work at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, has been receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) benefits since 2017. The $200 a month she received made it possible for her to buy more fresh produce, especially bagged salad kits that made it easier for her to eat a healthy lunch when she didn’t have a lot of food prep time.

  This January, that was threatened when she received a letter stating that her benefits would be canceled if she did not fulfill a 20-hour-a-week work requirement.  When I first met with Ortiz, she stated that “I would have to make major cuts to the food that I get” if she lost her SNAP benefits.

Efforts by anti-choice advocates to redefine and limit contraception

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade was a critical step forward for women’s equality, establishing vital, constitutionally protected privacy rights that enable women to access abortion services. However, the ruling also became a target for anti-choice politicians and advocates to organize around. Since the Supreme Court’s decision, these groups’ attacks on abortion access have become an everyday reality that reproductive health advocates, providers, and patients must face. From targeted regulation of abortion provider (TRAP) laws to mandatory waiting periods and biased counseling, there is a well-organized and widespread effort to limit a woman’s ability to make decisions about her own reproductive health when it comes to pregnancy.

Rethinking Tobacco Policy: The federal government should stop blocking alternatives to smoking

  Cigarette smokers who are trying to quit smoking have many new and innovative options to help them break the habit. At least they do as of now. E-cigarettes, as well as even newer products which heat but do not burn tobacco, allow those who are unable or unwilling to quit using nicotine to dramatically reduce their exposure to the deadliest components of cigarettes, the products of combustion in the smoke.

  However, the federal government is about to prevent individuals who desperately want to stop smoking from having access to these options.

Paul Schwennesen: Food safety: A market solution

  The FDA is trumpeting, with unseemly giddiness, sweeping implementation of new rules within the now thoroughly moldered food-safety bill, passed two long years ago. Like any dish served past its prime, this one smells a bit off.

  As a producer in the ascendant food renaissance (defined by a sudden respect for all things small and local) I’ve noticed a curious double incongruity: First, the clamoring for “safe,” centrally managed food rules leads unerringly to the sort of consolidated, industrially processed foods many of the clamorers so despise in the first place. Second, enacting more-stringent safety regulations actually reduces the incentive for truly excellent food-safety standards.