Archive for February, 2012

This coming weekend, CMG will once again have a major presence at the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio – as we continue our tradition of sponsorship for this event that has  become the largest multi-sport event in the nation.  For the tenth consecutive year, CMG will proudly be in attendance at “The Arnold”  (which takes place from March 1^st – 4^th ) – where more than  175,000 fitness enthusiasts will gather to experience thrilling moments of sports competition and fitness entertainment.  In addition, attendees at this major event will also have the chance to experience the 700-booth Arnold Fitness EXPO offering the biggest names in health & fitness who present the latest trends in fitness apparel, supplements, and training equipment.

Once again, CMG will be a sponsor of the Arnold Amateur competitions.  CMG partners Rick Collins and Marc Gann will be up on the EXPO stage handing out trophies to the contest winners midday on Saturday.  Also, this year we are particularly excited to announce that Rick Collins is scheduled to present a special award to MMA superstar Randy Couture.  Couture – three-time Heavyweight UFC Champion and two-time Light Heavyweight Champion – remains one of the most successful figures in MMA history.  He is also an actor who can be seen in The Expendables and The Expendables 2 – working alongside major action stars including Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jet Li, Eric Roberts, Steve Austin and Jason Statham, among others.  Rick, the founder of the Leap for Life fund-raiser (www.leapforlife.org), will be presenting Randy with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding career achievements and charitable endeavors on Friday at 11:45 AM on the EXPO stage — photos and more information on this will be posted after the presentation! Be sure to stop by to say hello to Rick and Marc, and also to CMG lawyers Alan Feldstein and Mike DiMaggio who, along with Rick and Marc, will be at the EXPO on both Friday and Saturday meeting with the many supplement company principals who are CMG clients. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, in a move that has shocked many in the supplement industry, the FDA rejected the request of Senators Orrin Hatch and Tom Harkin asking the FDA to immediately withdraw the New Dietary Ingredients (NDI) Draft Guidance.  This move was more than surprising to many in the industry – especially considering that the Senators were the authors of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA)!  According to the Senators, the current Draft Guidance “serves to undermine DSHEA in a number of important aspects” and did not meet their intent when they wrote the law. The Senators had requested an in-person meeting with the FDA back in December to discuss the issue in the hopes that FDA would withdraw the controversial Draft Guidance and replace it with a new one that was consistent with the law and their intent.

The meeting between FDA‘s Dr. Daniel Fabricant and Sens. Hatch and Harkin ended with the FDA, as noted by some in the industry, “sticking to its guns on its interpretation of what the NDI section of DSHEA means, regardless of what the senators say they meant when they wrote the law.”  Sens. Hatch and Harkin’s request to withdraw the controversial Draft Guidance, therefore, was denied – leaving many in the industry to wonder where we go from here.  The FDA clearly seems to be committed to moving forward and using the NDI Draft Guidance process to inch things ever closer to a system approximating premarket approval (which was never the intent and was specifically excluded by DSHEA). Read the rest of this entry »