As they often have done in the past, the FTC and the FDA issued joint cease and desist letters last week to 10 companies suspected of making unproven health claims – in this instance, claims that dietary supplements treat or cure diabetes. The FTC and the FDA join forces on such letters in order to
Dietary Supplement and Personal Care Products Regulatory and Litigation Highlights – May and June 2021
The dietary supplement and personal care product space continued to see enforcement on false CBD, COVID, and fertility claims as well as related litigation involving “germ-killing” claims on hand sanitizers and wipes. Messy stuff…Let’s take a look…
LITIGATION
Personal Care Products
In a blow to the trending “pink tax” theory of liability in consumer class actions, in May, the Eighth Circuit ruled that various personal care product manufacturers and retailers did not violate Missouri’s anti-discrimination laws by charging more for products marketed towards women as compared to allegedly identical products that were either marketed towards men or utilized gender-neutral marketing. The Court found that the plaintiff “mistakes gender-based marketing for gender discrimination” and, in the process, ignores numerous differences between the products that account for the higher price tag. There has been a handful of similar “pink tax” cases filed over the last year or two, but this is the first appellate court to rule on the issue.
Continue Reading Dietary Supplement and Personal Care Products Regulatory and Litigation Highlights – May and June 2021
Dietary Supplement and Personal Care Products Regulatory and Litigation Highlights – April 2021
Welcome to our monthly digest of litigation and regulatory highlights impacting the personal care product and dietary supplement industry. April saw a re-emphasis on restriction of COVID-related claims in advertisements for supplements and therapies, developments in various class action cases, including a win for consumers challenging hand sanitizer’s claims of killing 99.99% of germs and a slew of new “natural” class actions, and finally a roller coaster ride for the FTC involving major blows and power moves.
Let’s take a look….
Continue Reading Dietary Supplement and Personal Care Products Regulatory and Litigation Highlights – April 2021
Dietary Supplement and Personal Care Product Regulatory and Litigation Highlights – March 2021
Welcome to our curated selection of highlights of regulatory and litigation developments in the dietary supplement and personal care product industries for March 2021. In case you were wondering what pain relief, teeth whitening, and CBD have in common (and, who wasn’t?) it seems that one year into the pandemic, these are the advertising battles
Dietary Supplement and Personal Care Products Regulatory Highlights – January 2021
Welcome to our monthly roundup of regulatory and litigation highlights impacting the dietary supplement and personal care products industries.
NAD tackled substantiation for “#1 Dermatologist Recommended” claims in a challenge involving L’Oreal’s CeraVe moisturizer and use of syndicated survey data to support related claims.
Health claim substantiation was front and center in
Section 13(b) at the New Year: Where Things Stand in the Fight Over The FTC’s Enforcement Authority
The year ended with a flurry of activity related to the FTC’s ability to obtain permanent injunctions and restitution under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act. As we head into 2020, a level-set is in order.
To File or Not File is No Longer the Question
On December 19, 2019, the FTC filed a petition
2019 Selected Top Ad Law Access Reads and Listens
In 2019, Ad Law Access published 124 stories on a wide range of topics. However, two topics stood out above the others:
- California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA)
CCPA was far and away the most popular topic of 2019 and, as mentioned in one of our last posts of the year, “businesses and privacy professionals
Five Key Takeaways From FDA’s CBD Public Meeting
With CBD projected to be a $450 Million industry in the coming year, FDA hosted a packed house of industry stakeholders last week in a day-long public meeting that was the kickoff of a discussion to determine whether there is a pathway for CBD in ingestible products such as foods and dietary supplements. See our
FTC Can’t Challenge Prior Acts in Federal Court Says Third Circuit
In a decision that will limit the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) ability in both consumer protection and antitrust matters to bring certain claims in federal court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held in FTC v. Shire Viropharma, Inc. that the FTC may only bring a case under Section 13(b) of the FTC Act when
FDA Tightening Oversight of Dietary Supplement Industry
This morning, the FDA announced its intention to engage in greater oversight of the dietary supplement industry. The announcement also conveyed that the Agency had sent 12 warning letters and five advisory letters to companies over the prior two weeks. Some of these letters were jointly issued by FDA and the Federal Trade Commission, focusing