What We’re Reading: Spending Bill Freeze; Cannabidiol as a Dietary Supplement; COVID-19 Misinformation Punishment

Republican Disagreements Halt Spending Bill

Intraparty friction over the abortion pill mifepristone have delayed a plan for House votes on Friday and led GOP heads to push legislation funding the FDA until August recess ends, reported The Hill. The spending bill would also fund the Department of Agriculture and contains a provision to constrict restrictions surrounding access to mifepristone, which would nullify the agency’s decision to permit the drug to be dispensed through mail and retail pharmacies.

Officials Urge FDA to Regulate Cannabidiol

Officials and hemp advocates pressed the FDA to quickly regulate cannabidiol (CBD) products as dietary supplements at a House subcommittee hearing Thursday, according to Bloomberg Law. CBD products can’t be sold or regulated as dietary supplements yet because of CBD’s intrinsic risk profile and currently incomplete risk-management resources. Customer safeguards in the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act would apply to CBD products if they were regulated as dietary supplements, including adverse event reporting and possible child-proof packaging requirements.

Doctors Spreading COVID-19 Misinformation Rarely Punished

Doctors who endangered patients’ lives by pushing medical misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath have not encountered sufficient repercussions, according to a Washington Post analysis of disciplinary records from medical boards in every state, reported The Washington Post. These medical boards, assigned with protecting the American public, frequently failed to stop doctors who went against medical consensus and prescribed treatments not approved for COVID-19 or who misled patients about masks and vaccines, found the investigation. Presently, no organization monitors how many doctors have been punished for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.