The FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition has a wish list for cosmetics reform legislation, but with Congress currently focused elsewhere, the agency is using its existing authority and resources to address cosmetics safety priorities while working to drive voluntary industry support.

FDA will prepare an environmental impact statement on sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate in light of questions on the ingredients’ impact on coral and coral reefs. It plans to complete the review prior to publishing final order for its OTC sunscreen ingredients monograph.

The Fragrance Creators Association and Personal Care Products Council remain concerned that more stringent VOC limits for personal fragrance products in California, as approved by the Air Resources Board in March, will be disproportionately burdensome for industry and potentially detrimental to the market.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock says FDA is interested in establishing new ‘Centers of Excellence’ but the current environment is not the right time to make changes at the agency. Woodcock also talked about where FDA will spend its new pandemic money and its reexamination of accelerated approval drugs in a wide-sweeping conversation with the Alliance for a Stronger FDA.

The American Cleaning Institute is preparing to submit a healthcare personnel hand wash study to the US FDA pending confidentiality discussions, along with results from a literature review on the topic of antimicrobial resistance. A progress report is due to the agency in October, which could stave off an administrative order under the reformed OTC drug review system.

The public health emergency has shown that the US needs more hand sanitizers on store shelves, not less, right?

FDA will prepare an environmental impact statement on sunscreen ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate in light of questions on the ingredients’ impact on coral and coral reefs. It plans to complete the review prior to publishing final order for its OTC sunscreen ingredients monograph.

Justice Breyer suggests FTC ask Congress to strengthen its enforcement rules. It is “free to ask Congress to grant it further remedial authority,” according to court opinion stating a rule the FTC has wielded for forty years to impose financial penalties doesn’t grant it authority to obtain equitable monetary relief.

Women’s Voices for the Earth says California’s Cleaning Product Right to Know Act, which influenced similar legislation enacted last year for cosmetic fragrance and flavor ingredients, has revealed toxic substances long hidden from the general public that disproportionately impact marginalized groups.

FDA is conducting lab testing on CBD products with funding in its FY2021 appropriations, says senior agency advisor Sharon Mayl. Some work planned work in the area has been delayed by the agency's response to COVID-19.

Former FDA commissioner says legislative carve-out for a regulatory pathway for cannabinoids is a better option than a rulemaking, which could take five years and “may not even work.” Cannabinoids market is “well far ahead of where the regulation is,” he says.

Advocates hoped a study suggesting octocrylene in sunscreens may degrade into benzophenone would convince lawmakers to expand ban, but a House committee maintained its commitment to wait on more research.

Are botanical claims equivalent to natural claims? Can hair truly be repaired? What constitutes “oil-free”? Such are the questions raised in growing litigation against cosmetic product companies under consumer protection statutes around the US, Conkle, Kremer & Engel attorneys say.

Beiersdorf and former owner Bayer are on the verge of settling a proposed class action in California’s Northern District challenging “mineral-based” claims on Coppertone sunscreens that also contain chemical UV filters. However, the parties will have to try again with their proposed terms.

Gabriel Letizia Jr. potentially faces up to seven years in prison after admitting to defrauding AMA Laboratories customers of more than $46m by sending them bogus testing reports. The US FDA, which participated in the investigation, has not commented publicly on the implications for improperly tested sunscreens and other products.

Lawmakers disagree whether legislation to amend an FTC regulation to grant the commission authority to pursue monetary remedies should be retroactive, which would impact approximately 75 pending federal court cases alleging violations.

Justice Breyer suggests FTC ask Congress to strengthen its enforcement rules. It is “free to ask Congress to grant it further remedial authority,” according to court opinion stating a rule the FTC has wielded for forty years to impose financial penalties doesn’t grant it authority to obtain equitable monetary relief.

China's historic antitrust fine against Alibaba indicates regulatory attention to anticompetitive practices is mounting. Past cases show the pharma sector is not immune and while it remains segmented, investigators appear to be taking a generally more sophisticated approach to transgressions.