Overlawyered » FDA

As FDA and Congress fiddle

Walter Olson — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:08:08 +0000

“Supplies of Critical Child Leukemia Drug Are Almost Gone” [Atlantic Wire] Earlier on the shortage of hospital and community drugs, and Washington’s role in it, here, here, here, here, and here.

Tags: FDA, pharmaceuticals

November 29 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:50:29 +0000

UK: “Premiums to soar as accident claims lawyers push up cost of motor insurance, MPs hear” [Telegraph]
John Stossel on death by FDA [Reason] Disapproving stance on e-cigarettes might cost lives [Balko] Company abandons pioneering stem-cell research after running up $45 million in costs to win FDA approval of initial safety tests [Technology Review] NYT can be obtuse about regulatory costs [Cowen]
No, we’re not allowed to let you out of the van to relieve the call of nature [Ted at PoL]
“Economic Damages Are Affirmed Though Plaintiff’s Earnings Rose After Accident” [NJLJ]
A shame about the business climate in Hawaii [Inverse Condemnation]
“Massachusetts Lawyer Loses License for a Year for Charging $93.8K Contingent Fee, Absent a Contingency” [Martha Neil, ABA Journal]
Movement “rapidly gaining steam” in U.S. to prohibit anonymous sperm donation [Glenn Cohen, Prawfs]

Tags: assisted reproduction, contingent fee, damages, FDA, Hawaii, United Kingdom

Welcome LaDona Harvey listeners

Walter Olson — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 00:52:22 +0000

I just joined listeners at San Diego’s KOGO to talk about the FDA/USDA initiative to regulate salt content in food, about which you can read here and here. Deadline for filing comments is tomorrow; the most direct link I know of for doing so is here (use “Individual Consumer” as category of comment unless that doesn’t apply).

Tags: FDA, on TV and radio, salt

Will the FDA get into the salt-reduction business?

Walter Olson — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 18:58:38 +0000

If the Food and Drug Administration continues down its current path, it could begin ordering mandatory salt reductions in processed and restaurant foods ranging from pretzels to cold cuts to take-out chicken nuggets. As I explain at Cato at Liberty, time is running out for public comment on the FDA’s plans to enter the field. Earlier here, etc.

Tags: FDA, nanny state, salt

November 8 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:07:26 +0000

Washington Post pundit Dana Milbank’s lament: Obama isn’t doing enough to intimidate opponents [David Boaz, Cato]
FDA defends itself against rising criticism on drug and device approval [NYT] NYT approaches the issue with a curious slant [Paul Rubin]
California courts: what makes you think we need to follow SCOTUS on arbitration? [Cal Biz Lit, more, Russell Jackson] Senate anti-arbitration hearing could have used more truth in advertising [PoL]
Pols want to fast-track favored L.A. stadium against environmental suits under California’s obstructor-friendly CEQA. Hmmm… why not fast-track everyone else too? [Gideon Kanner, Stephen Smith, SCPR, Paul Taylor, Examiner]
State law forbids use of deadly force in defense of business property: “Burglar’s family awarded $300,000 in wrongful death suit” [Colorado Springs Gazette]
One reason the Ninth Circuit may go off on more frolics: three-judge, one-clerk bench memos [Kerr]

October 14 roundup

Walter Olson — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 05:24:11 +0000

Pre-terror-attack antibiotic availability? HHS doesn’t think you’re sophisticated enough to handle that freedom [Stewart Baker]
Uh-oh: some New York lawmakers want “a more refined First Amendment” [Slashdot, Lucy Steigerwald]
Wal-Mart v. Dukes decision could curb certification of some wage and hour class actions [Fox]
“Miss. Supreme Court Removes Judge from $322M Asbestos Case Because of Dad’s Lawsuits” [ABA Journal]
Mass. town wants to seize family motel under forfeiture law, IJ objects [Jacob Sullum, Mark Perry]
Will FDA use its new tobacco-regulatory power to stub out cigars? [DC]
“Dole settles pesticide litigation” [WSJ Law Blog, background]

Tags: banana pesticide litigation fraud, FDA, First Amendment, forfeiture, recusals, terrorism, tobacco, Wal-Mart v. Dukes

FDA begins laying groundwork for mandatory salt reduction in food

Walter Olson — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 19:56:40 +0000

With a “Request for Comments, Data, and Information” (PDF), the Food and Drug Administration has begun laying the groundwork for mandatory sodium reductions in food processing. Caleb Brown interviewed me for a Cato podcast on the subject. For more on the furor over H.J. Heinz’s unpopular reformulation of HP Sauce at the suggestion of the British government, see Telegraph and Daily Mail accounts.

Tags: FDA, salt

October 12 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 05:13:02 +0000

After President Obama’s Orlando photo-op with construction workers came the high-ticket fundraiser at the home of med-mal titan John Morgan [Orlando Sentinel]
“Lawyer Sues Facebook, Says Tracking Cookie Violates Wiretap Laws” [ABA Journal]
The bone-marrow bounty that could save a life — and the law that gets in the way [Virginia Postrel]
New coalition to repeal New York’s unfair Scaffold Law;
“How the FDA Could Cost You Your Life” [Scott Gottlieb on medical device lags, WSJ]
Mississippi: new release of sealed Scruggs-scandal documents [YallPolitics, Freeland]
What I learned (about false accusation) at Dartmouth [Gonzalo Lira]

Tags: Barack Obama, colleges and universities, Dickie Scruggs, Facebook, FDA, New York, politics

Advertising food as “genetically unmodified”

Walter Olson — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 13:00:14 +0000

The Food and Drug Administration substantially restricts food companies’ freedom to promote their wares as not-genetically-modified, although quite a lot of grocery shoppers are (perhaps misguidedly) interested in making product decisions on that basis. Thom Lambert at Truth on the Market detects the symptoms of regulatory “capture.”

Tags: advertising, eat drink and be merry, FDA

September 27 roundup

Walter Olson — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 05:35:58 +0000

Unauthorized practice of law (UPL) regulation tends to serve interests of lawyers, not consumers [Thomas Morgan, Gillian Hadfield and more, Eric Rasmusen, George Leef, William Henderson, all at last week's Truth on the Market symposium; Bader/Examiner; related Greenfield on "lawyer practitioner" idea] In which I am described as a “voice of reason” on the notion of lawyer-deregulation [Greenfield, Bader/Open Market, earlier]
Trial lawyer stimulus: Obama jobs bill requires states to waive defenses to lawsuits [Joel Griffith, Big Government]
Because it’s done such a great job with drugs: government panel calls for heavier FDA hand in restricting availability of medical devices [Wajert, Beck, FairWarning] Better idea: “Moving to a Safety-Only [FDA] System” [Tabarrok on Boldrin/Swamidass]
“Do we really need a breastfeeding discrimination law?” [Hyman]
Welcome forum-shoppers: “St. Clair County [Ill.] Courthouse overflowing with out-of-towner law suits” [Madison County Record]
Lawyers in black-farmer action deploy Cornell’s Theodore Eisenberg in quest for $90.8 million payday [BLT]
“Ohio Man Sues Coworkers Who Won’t Share Mega Millions Lottery Win” [AOL; more on the evergreen lawsuit genre of co-worker lottery suits]

Tags: asbestos, FDA, forum shopping, lottery, Madison County, unauthorized practice

Overlawyered » FDA

As FDA and Congress fiddle

Related posts

November 29 roundup

Related posts

Welcome LaDona Harvey listeners

Related posts

Will the FDA get into the salt-reduction business?

Related posts

November 8 roundup

Related posts

October 14 roundup

Related posts

FDA begins laying groundwork for mandatory salt reduction in food

Related posts

October 12 roundup

Related posts

Advertising food as “genetically unmodified”

Related posts

September 27 roundup

Related posts