Same general topic, different approaches
Wednesday, Jun 4, 2025 - Posted by Rich Miller
* HB3637 passed both chambers and is heading to the governor…
Provides that, if a drug had been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration before January 1, 2025, the revocation of approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration shall not cause it to be deemed an adulterated drug in violation of the Illinois Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act if the drug is recommended for use by the World Health Organization, even if the drug’s labeling reflects prior approval that is no longer in effect, so long as the drug’s labeling was true and accurate at the time of its manufacture. Provides that those provisions are inoperative on and after January 1, 2035.
This is mainly about mifepristone.
* The House Republicans hate it…
Foreign influence!
* Meanwhile, in Texas…
A Texas bill on the verge of becoming law would require labels on packaged food from Skittles to Mountain Dew that warn about ingredients “not recommended for human consumption” by other countries.
Texas Senate Bill 25, backed by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., is now awaiting the signature of Governor Greg Abbott. Foods containing certain ingredients would require warning labels on new packaging beginning in 2027 in order to be sold in Texas, which is the second-most populous US state with 31 million residents.
The bill lists more than 40 ingredients, including synthetic food dyes and bleached flour. Many, but not all, of the additives are banned or require warnings in other countries.
If approved, the impact on the packaged-food industry could be far reaching: When companies are forced to comply with state regulations, they have often opted to adopt those changes nationwide to streamline production. It would also mark one of the most substantive victories yet for the Make America Healthy Again movement, Kennedy’s signature effort.
Foreign influence!
- I-55 Fanatic - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 9:24 am:
“Illinois Dems aim to illegally traffic drugs…” makes it sound like you’ve got precinct captains stuffing pills in their coat pockets.
- Excitable Boy - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 9:36 am:
- A Texas bill on the verge of becoming law would require labels on packaged food from Skittles to Mountain Dew that warn about ingredients “not recommended for human consumption” by other countries. -
It’s a rare day when I find myself agreeing with the Texas legislature and RFK Jr.
- Cable Line Gardener - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 9:43 am:
So they are labeling junk food junk food. Do we really need a law for that?
- H-W - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 9:54 am:
The Texas bill assumes Texans read. I have a feeling most Texans do not read, much less read the labels on Coke cans and Skittles packages. /s
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 10:11 am:
Anytime there is a response from the Republican Party in this state I automatically hear Money for Nothing by Dire Straits.
It’s a limited club, for sure, but if you can get in, man you’re set.
- Aaron B - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 10:29 am:
So the warnings will go from “this product contains chemicals known to cause cancer in California” to saying “this product contains chemicals known to cause cancer in California and contains ingredients not recommended for human consumption in Texas”. Everyone will still ignore the warnings just like they do now with Prop 65.
- JS Mill - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 11:08 am:
=It’s a rare day when I find myself agreeing with the Texas legislature and RFK Jr.=
I remember when this sort of stuff would trigger republicans. Like a year ago.
- H-W - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 11:14 am:
@ Aaron B
Funny.
I just looked at the carve outs. Federalism trumps States in the: (a) “Food and Drug Administration or Department of Agriculture,” (b) “if the federal government mandates labeling” and the (c) “bill exempts foods regulated by the USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service” clauses in the story.
In the end, it reads more as a legislative attempt to make ’substantive victories … for the Make America Healthy Again movement,” as the story suggests.
I doubt Gov. Abbott will sign it as is. It appears to be capitulation the science and MAGA hates science right? But even if Abbott does sign it, the bill lacks teeth due to the carve outs (above). End the end, this is just theatre.
- Thomas Paine - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 11:40 am:
So help me lord if I worked for Pepsico I would announce we will no longer be selling Mountain Dew in Texas due to government over-regulation by Republicans and let the GOP deal with all of the Mountain Dew addicts that have to drive two hours roundtrip to Staley, Oklahoma to get their fix.
Mountain Dew is the #5 selling soft drink in Texas.
The bill apparently also covers Dr. Pepper, the #2 selling soft drink in Texas because it is made in Texas.
From pharmaceuticals to food to tariffs, the GOP and the Trump administration have become wholly anti-manufacturing.
Pritzker and Illinois Democrats, in stark contrast, are fighting for the manufacturing sector.
- Dotnonymous x - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 12:15 pm:
The FDA is joke…many people are under the false impression that the FDA tests drugs…they do not…they rely on the manufacturers tests…solely.
- Proud Papa Bear - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 1:14 pm:
For a party that incessantly whines about “cancel culture” and the “nanny state,” they’re doing an awful lot of canceling and nannying.
- H-W - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 1:52 pm:
@ Dotnonymous x
That’s because of legislation passed long ago that only required corporations to prove their devices, etc., are not harmful. I did such a study for a medical device around 2000, for a local inventor in Decatur. He had a device that helped women search for possible breast lumps. He was required to prove (a) is was a really good device, and (b) it would cause no harm. A Millikin University colleague and I did the studies. In the end, it was a good device.
To your point, the FDA is only as good as it’s federal mandates. This administration is testing those limits, certainly, but better regulation requires better regulation, right?
- RNUG - Wednesday, Jun 4, 25 @ 11:59 pm:
== Foreign influence! ==
Well, Illinois has often followed California’s guidance on potentially cancer causing items that the Federal level has not addressed.
- RNUG - Thursday, Jun 5, 25 @ 12:01 am:
== you can get in, man you’re set. Yeah … but the chicks for free …