Monthly archives for February, 2011

Does the Supplement Industry Really Bombard Congress with Cash to Get Its Way?

Feb22nd
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Rick Collins

Last week, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a legal watchdog group, released “research demonstrating that the dietary supplement industry spent millions of dollars on well-connected lobbyists and made numerous campaign contributions to successfully thwart increased regulatory oversight of supplements.” (Read CREW’s report here)

 CREW’s press release targeted Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch as being “[f]ar and away the largest recipient of campaign contributions from the supplement industry in the 2010 election cycle” for taking in the apparently whopping sum of $45,780. 

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Dietary Supplements, Marketing and Advertising, Regulatory, Sports Nutrition

Continuing to Debate the Legalization of Mixed Martial Arts in New York

Feb18th
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Mike DiMaggio

Mike DiMaggio, left, at the NYCLA MMA Forum

The legalization of Mixed Martial Arts in New York continues to be a hot topic for not only fans of the sport, but the legal and regulatory communities as well.  These different communities all came together recently at a public forum presented by the New York County Lawyers’ Association (NYCLA) – where dozens of MMA enthusiasts, attorneys and others in the sports promotion industry gathered to learn more about the legal and regulatory issues surrounding legalizing MMA in New York – as well as the potential economic impact if it were legalized.

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Selling Misbranded Products with False Claims Can Land You in Prison

Feb11th
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Alan Feldstein

While it is more common to read about fines, consent decrees, and recalls, if you make unlawful claims and engage in other illegal activity you may be prosecuted criminally. Recently, two marketers of dietary supplements received prison sentences in addition to the 11.9 million dollar judgment that was levied against them, for making illegal claims that the products they sold could prevent, treat or cure various diseases. Tony Pham, who operated Techmedica Health Inc, and Charles Thao of Nutrapha Research LLC pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act and to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. Additionally, both men are accused of using computer technology to hide their illegal websites by using “mirror image technology” to cause alternative websites with “sanitized” claims to be displayed whenever they were visited by someone with an FDA ISP address. While clever, the only people they’ll be able to brag to now will be their fellow inmates. Pham will serve three years in prison without parole and Thao was sentenced to eight years and one month without parole.

For additional information on this story, click the link below: http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/CriminalInvestigations/ucm234904.htm

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Dietary Supplements, FDA, FTC, Marketing and Advertising, Regulatory, Sports Nutrition

America’s First Energy Drink Ban Proposed in New York County

Feb11th
2011 Leave a Comment Written by Mike DiMaggio

Alcoholic energy drinks have recently come under serious scrutiny after being linked to several incidents of consumer illness and criminal violations. The widely publicized episodes have resulted in multiple statewide bans, but there are some who would like to see things taken a step further; New York Legislator Lynne Nowick wants to keep any and all energy drinks out of the hands of children and teens.

 In December, the office of the Suffolk County legislator released a statement announcing her intention to ban the sale of energy drinks with more than 80mg of caffeine (the equivalent of a strong cup of coffee) to anyone under the age of nineteen. Nowick has said that she believes that energy drinks are potentially dangerous to children and young adults and that this legislation would help to protect them.  She cited FDA’s lack of regulation and possible negative interactions between ingredients contained in the drinks and prescribed medications as the leading reasons for the proposed ban.  If passed, the ban would be the first of its kind in the US, though in the past state legislatures in Maine and Kentucky have attempted to pass similar prohibitions to no avail. READ MORE »

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Dietary Supplements, Marketing and Advertising, Regulatory

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