Political Health

The FDA is warning consumers to avoid 65 products sold online which, according to the agency, come with bogus claims that they can treat, cure, diagnose, or prevent cancer, along with other medical conditions. However, the companies which received the warning were not ordered to stop selling their products. [1]
Referring to the pills, creams, and teas as “a cruel deception,” the FDA says the products are a waste of time and money, and have the potential to harm buyers.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has quietly scrapped plans to start testing food for glyphosate, the primary component of the Monsanto-made herbicide RoundUp.

Howard County, Maryland managed to cut soda sales by 20% and fruit drink sales by 15% between January 2013 and December 2015 without levying a soda tax. The county’s methods could serve as a blueprint for other areas of the country that wish to do the same. [1]

It came to light recently that the EPA official tasked with evaluating the cancer risk associated with glyphosate – a toxic herbicide chemical – may have bragged that he deserved a medal if he could ‘ruin another agency’s investigation into glyphosate.’ [1]
The EPA official, Jess Rowland, allegedly made these comments during an April 2015 phone conversation, farmers and others who claim they were sickened by glyphosate say.

Doctors in the U.K. have been given the first-ever license to create “three-parent babies,” with the controversial IVF treatment taking place as early as later this year. [1]
The license was granted by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to a team who pioneered the mitochondrial pronuclear transfer technique at the University of Newcastle.

A GOP bill in Congress could give employers access to employees’ personal medical and genetic information and increase financial penalties for people who reject workplace wellness programs. [1]
House Republicans have proposed this legislation that would make it easier for companies to gather DNA and health information from employees and their families – children included – when it’s collected as part of a ‘voluntary’ workplace wellness program. Debate still remains, however, on the effectiveness of such wellness programs in general. [2]

President Trump’s pick for head of the FDA, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, has taken more than $400,000 from drug makers in the last few years alone, and Gottlieb has deep ties to the pharmaceutical industry. [1]
Gottlieb has testified multiple times on Capitol Hill concerning complex drug pricing issues, and is largely approved of by drug companies and pharmaceutical investors for FDA head. He’s on the boards of directors of several small drug and biotech companies, while also serving as an adviser to GlaxoSmithKline PLC. [2]

The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) issued its first-ever marijuana recall after samples of Blue Magoo marijuana were found to contain a level of pesticide residue that exceeds the state’s limit. The cannabis brand is sold at a Mapleton, Oregon, store. [1]
Source: Oregon Cannabis Connection

On March 16, the United Nations (U.N.) added 2 chemicals used to make the painkiller fentanyl to an international list of controlled substances. Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield, the chief U.S. State Department counter-narcotics official, has hailed the move, but acknowledged that it won’t immediately decrease illegal trafficking of the chemicals. [1] [2]
Source: Healthland Heart Region

On March 10, Maryland’s House of Delegates passed legislation to ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, 97 to 40. The bill’s next hurdle is the Senate, where a key lawmaker has resisted efforts to permanently prohibit the practice. [1]