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Because every bottle is clearly labeled “The FDA has not evaluated this for treating any condition”. There are a great many products that the FDA hasn’t evaluat

Because every bottle is clearly labeled “The FDA has not evaluated this for treating any condition”. There are a great many products that the FDA hasn’t evaluated that are still sold, why should these be any different?

calvinmorrison 2y ago
But why are businesses like CVS hawking snake oil while also having trained pharmacists on staff.
- Angostura 2y ago
  It makes money
- KennyBlanken 2y ago
  Most pharmacies used to sell tobacco products (they only started to do so after a couple of states started banning the practice.) Walgreens still does (in states where it isn't banned from doing so). https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/walgreens-tests-tobacco-free-stores-but-won-t-stop-all-tobacco-sales.html https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/walgreens-tes... > "The safety of our patients is very important, but we also have to do what our customers are requiring us to do," Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina told the WSJ. "We see that when we don’t sell tobacco, we have a lot of [negative] reactions."
jfengel 2y ago
Because a lot of those bottles also make claims that are in violation of the FDA rules. The label is not sufficient. They need to avoid making claims that they can treat or diagnose some condition. They do their best to hint at it without crossing the line, and frequently blatantly do cross it. The FDA does not have anywhere near the manpower to enforce it. And when they do finally get around to it, the brand vanishes, and a new one appears with exactly the same product lineup. The sector has long lost any entitlement to benefit of the doubt. They are knowingly making illegal claims and using a disclaimer as a fig leaf even though everything else on the package contradicts it.
- vikramkr 2y ago
  It's not illegal and its not in violation of FDA rules. That disclaimer text is from a specific law that gives them exemption from those rules: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_Education_Act_of_1994 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_... It's not a manpower issue, it's not a legal issue. It's not against the law because they wrote the law. There is no line they try to avoid crossing because that line was erased by lobbyists in 1994.
  - jfengel 2y ago
    As I said, it's not the disclaimer. It's all of the other text that contradicts it.
vikramkr 2y ago
It's the other way around, the 'FDA has not evaluated' text is indicating that these products are different and part of a special loophole created just for them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_Education_Act_of_1994 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_... The reason that these get to make health claims and stuff without regulation, and get special treatment, is lobbying resulting in that act. Otherwise they would have been regulated.

calvinmorrison 2y ago

But why are businesses like CVS hawking snake oil while also having trained pharmacists on staff.

Angostura 2y ago
It makes money
KennyBlanken 2y ago
Most pharmacies used to sell tobacco products (they only started to do so after a couple of states started banning the practice.) Walgreens still does (in states where it isn't banned from doing so). https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/walgreens-tests-tobacco-free-stores-but-won-t-stop-all-tobacco-sales.html https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/pharmacy/walgreens-tes... > "The safety of our patients is very important, but we also have to do what our customers are requiring us to do," Walgreens CEO Stefano Pessina told the WSJ. "We see that when we don’t sell tobacco, we have a lot of [negative] reactions."

jfengel 2y ago

Because a lot of those bottles also make claims that are in violation of the FDA rules. The label is not sufficient. They need to avoid making claims that they can treat or diagnose some condition. They do their best to hint at it without crossing the line, and frequently blatantly do cross it. The FDA does not have anywhere near the manpower to enforce it. And when they do finally get around to it, the brand vanishes, and a new one appears with exactly the same product lineup. The sector has long lost any entitlement to benefit of the doubt. They are knowingly making illegal claims and using a disclaimer as a fig leaf even though everything else on the package contradicts it.

vikramkr 2y ago
It's not illegal and its not in violation of FDA rules. That disclaimer text is from a specific law that gives them exemption from those rules: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_Education_Act_of_1994 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_... It's not a manpower issue, it's not a legal issue. It's not against the law because they wrote the law. There is no line they try to avoid crossing because that line was erased by lobbyists in 1994.
- jfengel 2y ago
  As I said, it's not the disclaimer. It's all of the other text that contradicts it.

vikramkr 2y ago

It's the other way around, the 'FDA has not evaluated' text is indicating that these products are different and part of a special loophole created just for them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_Education_Act_of_1994 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dietary_Supplement_Health_and_... The reason that these get to make health claims and stuff without regulation, and get special treatment, is lobbying resulting in that act. Otherwise they would have been regulated.