The FDA has issued warning letters to two companies — Griffo Botanicals and Prairie Dawn Herbs — telling them to stop promoting non-FDA-approved herbal products "to mitigate, prevent, treat, diagnose, or cure COVID-19." These letters include this language: FDA is advising consumers not to purchase or use certain products that have not been approved, cleared, […]
Author Archives: Brian Wolfman
Yesterday, in Johnson v. NPAS Solutions, the Eleventh Circuit held that so-called "incentive" or "service" awards to named class-action plaintiffs are unlawful. That is, in a class-action settlement, a named plaintiff may not be paid extra money (over and above money paid to all class members) as reimbursement/compensation for her efforts on behalf of the […]
LA Times columnist Michael Hiltzik explains why "the FDA just had the worst day in its history." Hiltzik says: During a White House event Sunday, FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn stood by silently in the face of an unsupported attack on his agency from the worst threat to public health in the U.S. today, President Trump. The […]
Last Wednesday, the Ninth Circuit issued a 2-to-1 decision in Rittman v. Amazon, holding that Amazon "last-mile" delivery drivers are transportation workers engaged in interstate commerce under 9 U.S.C. § 1 and, therefore, are exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act's enforcement provisions. As law prof Adam Steinman explains here, Rittman follows a recent decision from the […]
Law prof Daniel Hemel (@DanielJHemel) has posted a detailed series of tweets skewering the tort-deform provisions in the Republican-sponsored coronavirus relief bill. I recommend reading these tweets. Hemel begins with the statement that "[t]he liability provisions in McConnell’s 'HEALS Act' do not reflect a serious attempt to address problems with the tort system" and then […]
As the world races to find a safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19, note a study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The study reviewed all vaccines approved by the Food & Drug Administration for the 20-year period ending December 31, 2015. The study's finding: Over a 20-year period, vaccines were found to […]
I thought our readers might want to look at an interesting new decision from the Third Circuit about common-law nuisance under Pennsylvania law. The decision is Baptiste v. Bethlehem Landfill Company. The first two paragraphs of the opinion offer a synopsis: Robin and Dexter Baptiste brought an action against the Bethlehem Landfill Company on behalf […]
Law prof Mark Budnitz has written The Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts: The American Law Institute's Impossible Dream. Here is the abstract: The American Law Institute has been attempting to write a Restatement of the Law of Consumer Contracts since 2012. The proposed Restatement has gone through ten drafts and has generated considerable […]
Lots of folks are using hand sanitizer these days. Sometimes it is hard to find hand sanitizers on the shelves or on-line, and there might be an inclination to buy any brand you find. Because there are a bunch of dangerous brands on the market containing methanol (which can be toxic, even life-threatening when ingested), […]
This article by Renae Merle discusses in detail the impending eviction crisis as eviction moratoriums begin to expire. Something has to be done to help tenants in crisis, and it can't be extending the patchwork of moratoriums, which doesn't deal with the underlying problem: that people out of work can't afford the rent.