the gormley files

FTC building viewed from an angle a few blocks away and from a few stories above street level

25 May: Understanding FTC’s Warning to Industry: Considerations for the Natural Products Industry

Notices are seen as a maneuver after the Supreme Court ruled FTC can no longer use Section 13(b) of the FTC Act to collect fines from first-time offenders By James J. Gormley, Gormley NPI Consulting, CFH President and Senior Policy Advisor This post first appeared on Nutraceuticals World, reposted with permission In April, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) put nearly…

FDA sign outside FDA office

02 Apr: Disappearing Act: The Battle Over Dietary Supplement Ingredients and the Drug Exclusion Provision

Increasingly, FDA has used this ‘race to market’ language of DSHEA to prevent or remove safe and legitimate dietary ingredients from commerce By James J. Gormley, Gormley NPI Consulting, CFH President and Senior Policy Advisor This post first appeared on Nutraceuticals World, reposted with permission Today, 46% of the budget of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) comes from…

omega 3 capsules on table with mottled background

28 Jan: Battles That Have United the Natural Products Industry — and Those Which Have Not

Looking back at the Vitamin Volstead Act, DSHEA, Codex, the AER Bill, and MPLs By James J. Gormley, Gormley NPI Consulting, CFH President and Senior Policy Advisor This post first appeared on Nutraceuticals World, reposted with permission Retailers, consumers, and natural products industry stakeholders have a history of generally—although not exclusively—uniting for what they considered the common good against regulation…

19 Sep: The Gormley Files – Preserving Our Natural Resources Preserves Health

Good news! The bill referred to below passed the Senate on October 10 – thanks to all who sent messages to their Senators! Read more here: https://mast.house.gov/blog?ID=021535EC-B791-4B8E-857F-BEA2B12FAD18 Senate Must Pass The Water Resources Development Act by James J. Gormley Fixing our water issues is perhaps the most important priority for the state of Florida, the region and the country. On…

27 May: The Gormley Files – Escape from the Emergency Room

Escape from the Emergency Room By James J. Gormley A few years back, I realized that I had a medical “situation,” a male concern I had wondered about for a couple of months, yet had dealt with by the time-honored male tradition of “avoidance” — if I pretend everything’s okay, the problem will go away — not the best approach….

23 Apr: The Gormley Files – YOU Are the Truth Champions

YOU Are the Truth Champions By James J. Gormley Facts. Truth. What is it about versions of these words that have had shifting uses and meanings throughout the millennia? They have been morphed into tools of propaganda, instruments of oppression and even edicts from kings or despots—who say what they decide is the truth. Many of us who are believers…

11 Jan: CFH VP James Gormley Shares a New Year Message

Happy New Year to all of our supporters, friends, allies and readers. Now that the wrapping paper is gone and noisemakers are stowed, we wanted to send this very brief note looking back at (and forward to) a few issues relating to natural products, health and the environment. First, there is general uncertainty as to whether the anti-over-regulatory winds in…

13 Aug: An Open Letter to Consumer Reports: 10 Misinformation Hazards in Your “10 Surprising Dangers of Vitamins and Supplements” Article

By James J. Gormley It is personally disappointing for me that Consumer Reports, the flagship of the respected marketplace-empowerment organization, Consumers Union, has once again seen fit to arm the American consumer with detrimental misinformation regarding safe, beneficial food supplements. In the alarmist piece which appears in the September 2012 issue, the anti-supplement subtitle reads: “Don’t assume they’re safe because…

09 May: The FDA’s DMAA Gamble

By James J. Gormley Courtesy of the SupplySide Community On April 24th, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sent warning letters to 10 companies cautioning them, in the strictest possible terms, that their DMAA (1,3 Dimethylamylamine)-containing products may be considered new dietary ingredients for which notifications have not been submitted and, so, would be adulterated products in violation of…