Federal court rules that only drug companies, not supplement companies, have First Amendment rights to truthful speech about health
by: J. D. Heyes
NaturalNews.com
Wednesday, September 09, 2015
In a ruling that many holistic healers and homeopathic physicians are likely to find hypocritical, a federal court has handed Big Pharma an unprecedented victory by giving a drug company preliminary approval to market a drug for a condition for which it has yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
The drug, Vascepa, manufactured by Amarin Pharma, is approved for use in treating very high levels of fats known as triglycerides – over 500 mg per deciliter – in a patient’s bloodstream, reports AllGov.com. But Amarin also wanted to promote the medication for use in patients who have “persistently high levels” of triglycerides, from 200 to 499 mg/deciliter.
The FDA denied that request earlier this year over concerns that Vascepa would not help such patients avoid heart attacks or heart disease. That decision led Amarin to file suit in court, claiming its First Amendment rights permitted the company to provide information to physicians and other primary care providers.
Providers have long prescribed medications for “off-label” uses – those not included in a drug’s literature or for uses not specifically approved by federal regulators – but the drug companies have traditionally been banned from marketing their products for such off-label uses.
“I find the decision very troubling”
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