Regulatory and Washington

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers that OTC teething products containing benzocaine pose a serious risk to infants and children and is asking that companies stop selling these products for such use.

The National Community Pharmacists Association’s new senior vice president of government affairs and director of its Advocacy Center Karry La Violette’s has been with the organization since 2011, during which time she has led federal government affairs program, which included Capitol Hill and Administration lobbying efforts.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has sent warning letters to companies illegally marketing pills and capsules labeled as dietary supplements that make unproven drug claims about protecting consumers from the dangers of sun exposure without meeting the FDA’s standards for safety and effectiveness.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced on Tuesday that it has issued warning letters to three marketers and distributors of kratom products for illegally selling unapproved kratom-containing drug products with unproven claims about their ability to help in the treatment of opioid addiction and withdrawal.

A Massachusetts bill that would ban the sale of weight-loss and muscle-building dietary supplements to minors has been pulled and sent to a study by the Joint Committee on Public Health.

Pharmacy advocates and organizations are pushing for legislation that focuses on enabling pharmacies to deliver improved patient health, with two areas of the business coming to the fore — ensuring transparent reimbursements and fighting the opioid crisis.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is requesting information, such as documents related to product marketing and research on product design, from four e-cigarette manufacturers as part of its effort to address the use of e-cigarettes among kids.

Withdrawing from the North American Free Trade Agreement would cost retailers and consumers up to $16 billion a year and lead to the loss of 128,000 retail-related jobs over the next three years, according a recently released study prepared for the National Retail Federation, the Retail Industry Leaders Association and the Food Marketing Institute.