Weight loss products raise legal issues
As with HCG and other weight loss products in the U.S., weight loss products become the focus of regulation in the Gulf region.
Continue Reading...R U Making Unauthorized Disease Claims with Your Dietary Supplements
Does your dietary supplement make illegal disease claims or authorized structure/function claims? How do you know?
Continue Reading...Legal Advice For New Dietary Supplement, Nutritional Product or Cosmetic
Manufacturers of new dietary supplements, cosmetics, and nutraceuticals can find legal advice about labeling and FDA-compliant claims by following these guidelines.
Continue Reading...Physician use of bioidential hormones raises legal concerns
Medical use of bioidentical hormones raises legal concerns that can be addressed by solid attorney advice and a carefully crafted informed consent.
Continue Reading...Is it legal for an integrative care center, medical spa, or clinical practitioner to make a profit by selling dietary supplements?
The question of selling dietary supplements in the clinical care setting arises with many clients in the holistic health care field who care about legal and regulatory issues.
Continue Reading...When Integrative Medicine Physicians Sell Dietary Supplements: Legal Issues
Serious legal issues can arise when physicians and CAM practitioners sell dietary supplements.
Continue Reading...FTC Cracks Down on Weight Loss Products
Dietary supplement labeling issues come to the fore again, which is why manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and cosmetics need good legal advice on their labeling.
Continue Reading...FDA Substantiation of Dietary Supplement Claims
Dietary supplement claims must be substantiated by scientific evidence, the FDA has guidance for industry about this.
Continue Reading...Green MSM FDA Warning Letter
Search the FDA warning letters if you want to start researching whether a given dietary supplement claim or label is acceptable or potentially illegal.
Continue Reading...FDA Guidance Regarding Structure-Function Claims for Dietary Supplements
The FDA regulation regarding structure-function claims is a good place to start for evaluating whether these claims are permissible or violate the federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act.
Continue Reading...Guidance for Dietary Supplement Industry from the FDA
The FDA also has issued guidance summarizing the 136 page regulation on structure-function claims.
Continue Reading...Claims that can be made for conventional foods and dietary supplements
What's the difference between health claims, nutrient content claims, and structure/function claims?
Continue Reading...Herbs for calm and restful sleep
A dietary supplement company announced release of a product to help "calm the mind and maintain restful sleep."
Continue Reading...Anti-kickback laws concern integrative medicine doctors
Our law practice has recently represented physicians and alternative care practitioners on anti-kickback issues.
Continue Reading...FDA steps up enforcement actions against dietary supplement manufacturers
The FDA is stepping up enforcement actions against dietary supplement manufacturers, sometimes bypassing warning letters.
Continue Reading...Dietary Supplements: structure-function and implied disease claims
Dietary supplements that make claims to "treat disease" suddenly become classified as drugs.
Continue Reading...Physicians, Dietary Supplement Sales, and Kickbacks 2
States have different laws governing physician sales of dietary supplements and other health care products.
Continue Reading...Physician Sales of Dietary Supplements - Referrals, Conflicts of Interest
Many physicians are calling our law office asking about generating passive income through referrals to dietary supplement manufacturers.
Continue Reading...In-office physician sale of dietary supplements: conflict of interest
Can MDs or DOs sell patients dietary supplements from the office?
Continue Reading...Do Canadian pharmacy students know about herbal medicine
Knowledge of herbal medicine is not a yes-no question.
Continue Reading...Most commonly used herbs, acupuncture benefits, faith heals
Herbal medicine, acupuncture, and faith are all in the news.
Continue Reading...California law for non-licensed practitioners and nutritional advice
California law dealing with unlicensed health care providers also addresses a topic often neglected: advice involving nutrition.
Continue Reading...Complementary and alternative medicine doctor urges restraint on energy drinks
Energy drinks can cause a host of health problems, warns one CAM physician.
Continue Reading...Labeling dietary supplements - FDA industry regulation
For those seeking basic FDA regulatory guidance on dietary supplement labeling, there is a handy summary of regulation avaiable to industry.
Continue Reading...Market America, Inc. designing vitamins to help with autism
Market America, Inc. (what a great name) is focusing on nutritional supplementation designed for children.
Continue Reading...Vitamin C can impede tumor growth
Researchers report that Vitamin C can impede tumor growth, just as Linus Pauling had claimed.
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World Health Organization Reports On Liver Damage Associated With Kava
The World Health Organization reports On liver damage Associated With Kava.
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Vitamin D therapy discussed in detail
Vitamin D therapy has a pathway pattern that is species-specific, scientists have found.
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adverse effects of using prescription drugs with natural health products underreported
The adverse effects of using prescription drugs side by side with natural health products (NHP) are being under-reported in Canada.
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Selenium supplements might increase risk of diabetes
Researchers warn that selenium supplements could increase risk of diabetes.
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Study cautions use of herbal remedies for depression and anxiety
A UK study cautions those using herbal remedies for depression and anxiety.
Continue Reading...NNFA Japan Urges Japan To Take "Strategic Approach" In Regulating Names Of Foods And Dietary Supplements
The Natural Nutritional Foods Association is working for better dietary supplement labeling in Japan.
Continue Reading...Singapore finds adulterated herbal medicine
The Singapore Health Sciences Authority is warning consumers about an herbal medicine product being adulterated and having serious adverse effects.
Continue Reading...Green tea may help treat bladder disease
Green tea makes the news again with a study of its effect on inflammatory bladder disease.
Continue Reading...Center to study Echinacea and St. John's wort receives funding renewal
A five-year-old research center dedicated to understanding and improving Echinacea and Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort) has received $4.4 million in continuation funding from the National Institutes of Health.
Continue Reading...Ginseng or ginkgo biloba supplements unlikely to alter drug pharmacokinetics
A study has found it unlikely that supplements such as gingko or ginseng alter drug pharmacokinetics.
Continue Reading...FDA Guidance on Complementary and Alternative Medicine
The FDA draft publication entitled "Guidance for Industry on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Products and Their Regulation by the Food and Drug Administration" has generated outcry and commentary.
Continue Reading...Dietary supplement recommendation as unlawful practice of medicine
Recommending dietary supplements to a patient can, in some states, cross the line into unlawful practice of medicine.
Continue Reading...American Herbal Products Association urges medical disclosure of dietary supplement use
The American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) has urged doctors and healthcare practitioners to ask patients about their use of herbs in an effort to foster communication on the issue.
Continue Reading...Vitamin D for Cancer Prevention
Two new vitamin D studies using a sophisticated form of analysis called meta-analysis, have revealed new prescriptions for possibly preventing up to half of the cases of breast cancer and two-thirds of the cases of colorectal cancer in the United States.
Continue Reading...Nutritional value of many (most?) foods low
The nutritional value of most foods in one chain of grocery stores was ranked and most scored almost zero.
Continue Reading...Health Canada warns against four supplements promoted to treat disease
Health Canada is advising consumers not to use four unauthorized natural health products that are promoted to treat serious health conditions.
Continue Reading...Complementary and Alternative Medicine Law and Regulation Criticized
Complementary and alternative medicine law and regulation, particularly with respect to dietary supplements, has been labeled a "futile effort costing taxpayers tens of millions of dollars a year."
Continue Reading...DHEA Not Impressing
The dietary supplement DHEA, touted as a "fountain of youth," lacks the benefits claimed, according to Reuters, reporting on a study in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Continue Reading...Dietary Supplements Legislation in India
Dietary supplements are now explicitly regulated in DSHEA-like fashion in India.
Continue Reading...Dietary Supplements Pose Dangers, Health Canada Warns
Dietary supplements and benefits associated with alternative medicine approaches (including nutrition) must be balanced against the potential dangers.
Continue Reading...Healthy Olive Oil Edges Out Vegetable Fats
When it comes to heart health, virgin olive oil may have an edge over other vegetable fats, new research suggests.
Continue Reading...FDA Advisory Panels Biased Toward Drug Approvals
The panels of experts assembled by the Food and Drug Administration to advise it on whether to approve new drugs and medical devices are often biased in favor of recommending approval, according to a consumer group's analysis released yesterday.
Continue Reading...In Obesity, Portions Count, New Analysis Reveals
Although opinions about nutrition and the real cause of the obesity epidemic abound, a health authority now gives the real scoop: portion size is responsible.
Continue Reading...Omega-3 Has Real Scientific Backing, Researchers Conclude
A high dose of Omega-3 fatty acids apparently helped rescued miner McCloy recover.
Continue Reading...Ayurvedic Herbal Medicines Criticized
An article in Frontline, India's national magazine, argues that the efficacy and safety of Ayurvedic drugs, and especially those claiming to provide miraculous cures, need to be subjected to scientific scrutiny.
Continue Reading...Traditional (Herbal) Medicine Guidelines Proposed
The American Herbal Products Association, in conjunction with about a dozen other CAM organiations in a "Traditional Medicines Congress,"
is proposing new herbal and dietary supplement regulation.
Oreos and You
The Chicago Tribune reported on the addictive effects of snacks as part of a series on current causes of obesity.
Continue Reading...CODEX Update
The Natural Solutions Foundation has been invited to appear before a Codex Office Public Hearing on CODEX ALIMENTARIUS set for June 9, 2005 at the USDA in Washington.
Continue Reading...FDA Warns Manufacter of Drugs Claims in Herbal Formula
The FDA has sent a warning letter to Two Feathers, a nutraceutical company that produces Two Feathers Healing Formula, also known as Compound X.
Continue Reading...American Association of Oriental Medicine (AAOM) suggests FDA is Interfering Unlawfully with the Practice of Chinese Herbal Medicine
The AAOM recently released a statement criticizing FDA regulation of herbs.
Continue Reading...Cancer patients in Europe use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM)
More than a third of cancer patients in Europe use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), most often to increase their body's ability to fight the disease, according to the first study of alternative medicine across Europe.
Continue Reading...Herbal Supplements Don't Mix with Surgery
Many Americans take herbal supplements to boost their health, but they may not realize that continuing to do so prior to surgery could have life-threatening results.
Continue Reading...Food is Medicine, U.S. HHS Secretary Says in Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
"Our medicines are no farther away than the shelves of the grocery and the sidewalks so that we can use for a brisk walk," said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson, in a press release announcing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005
Continue Reading...School Vending Machines Getting Color-coded for Safety
"Vending machines are getting their own color-coded safety guide as part of a campaign started ... by the vending industry to fight childhood obesity," reported the Washington Times.
Continue Reading...Nutritional Genomics Promises to Unravel Links Between Nutrition and Genetics
Newsweek reported that the new model for "nutritional genomics" suggests that just as drug effectiveness varies by individual and interacts with genes, so too do the effectiveness of nutritional strategies.
Continue Reading...National Conference to Examine Effects of Dietary Supplements in Patients Taking Blood Thinning Medications
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute will convene a conference this week to evaluate the risks of interactions between dietary supplements and prescription blood-thinning medications which are used by four million Americans to ward off heart attack or stroke.
Continue Reading...Are Drugs More Dangerous than Supplements?
Ask parents of those teenagers who committed suicide while taking antidepressants, and the parents might respond, "yes, drugs are more dangerous than dietary supplements."
Continue Reading...FDA Announces Major Initiatives for Dietary Supplements
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced three major regulatory initiatives designed to further implement the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA): a regulatory strategy, an open public meeting, and a draft guidance document for industry.
Continue Reading...Advising Patients Regarding Dietary Supplements
Clinicians often ask: "How do I advise patients when evidence concerning dietary supplements is non-existent or conflicting?" And: "Does selling supplements in my office create an ethical conflict?" Here's an approach to tackling these questions.
Continue Reading...Are Dietary Supplements Unregulated?
Aren't dietary supplements unregulated? How does that affect the institution's ability to handle their use?
The regulatory category of "dietary supplements" causes institutions (and clinicians) considerable confusion, both clinically and legally. A key to clarifying the legal issues is understanding the Dietary Supplements Health Education Act of 1994, or DSHEA.
Continue Reading...Selling Dietary Supplements On-Line
Selling dietary supplements on-line raises a host of legal issues, including rules relating to licensure and scope of practice; malpractice laws; legal rules and regulations by professional boards and organizations regarding conflict-of-interest (in medicine as in other health professions); rules about fraud; and rules governing Internet advertising and promotion.
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The Practice of Integrative Medicine: A Legal and Operational Guide is now available from Springer.
One of the transformations facing health care in the twenty-first century is the safe, effective, and appropriate integration of
Michael H. Cohen's novel A Question of Time is about consciousness. Gabriel Goodman takes a vacation from his law firm
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In Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Legal Boundaries and Regulatory Perspectives, Michael H. Cohen breaks new ground in putting together the
In Beyond Complementary Medicine, Michael H. Cohen goes deeper into the legal, ethical, and regulatory aspects of integrating complementary and
Future Medicine by Michael H. Cohen is an investigation into the clinical, legal, ethical, and regulatory changes occurring in our
What happens when a Wall Street lawyer, steeped in Judaism, enters an interfaith seminary, engages mystically, and connects with disincarnate