Peptides: The Wild West of FDA Regulation

Posted on Categories FDA, Food and Drug Law

There is a substance that looks like a drug, functions like a drug, and is marketed like a drug, yet it generally exists outside the United States Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) traditional regulatory framework. Peptide drugs are everywhere, but regulation is nowhere to be found. These synthetic chemicals manipulate a wide range of biological processes in the human body, making them increasingly attractive for therapeutic, cosmetic, and performance-enhancing functions. But leaving peptides largely outside the FDA’s traditional framework creates a regulatory gap that warrants immediate federal oversight.

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Beyond Seller Verification: Combating Online Counterfeit Fashion

Posted on Categories FTC, Intellectual Property

A designer handbag at a fraction of its retail price can be hard to resist. But knowing who is selling it does not answer the question that matters most: is it authentic? The Integrity, Notification, and Fairness in Online Retail Marketplaces for Consumers Act (INFORM Consumers Act) aims to deter counterfeit sales by making online sellers more identifiable and suspicious activity easier to report. Those protections are a useful start, but protecting shoppers and brands should also require a clear, accountable response when counterfeit complaints arise.
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What Are These Fees For? The Unfair Pricing Practices of Online Food Delivery Platforms

Posted on Categories FTC

On April 16, 2026, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) proposed creating a rule to address unfair or deceptive fee-charging practices for items ordered off online food delivery platforms. After its announcement, the FTC sought comments from the public to determine the need for a rule to address these practices. At the conclusion of the comment period on May 18, 2026, the FTC received 438 submissions. Some consumers commented that they believed online food delivery platforms were charging exorbitant hidden fees, in some cases doubling the cost of their order, and they desired transparent pricing. By proposing a nationwide rule to address unfair pricing practices of online food delivery platforms, the FTC will be able to provide clear, necessary guidelines for these platforms to operate by in every state.
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Swipe, Scan, Save: The Hidden Compliance Risks of Customer Loyalty Programs

Posted on Categories Privacy & Security, Regulation

It seems like every time you visit a store, you’re asked the question, “Do you have a rewards account?” Most do. They either scan a barcode or give their phone number to earn points, get discounts, or receive tailored offers. Although customers walk away with some savings, businesses end up with an even more valuable resource: data. What appears to be a simple transaction has become a sophisticated exchange of personal information, raising significant privacy and compliance issues involving consumer consent, transparency in data collection, third-party data sharing, and businesses’ obligations to protect personal information.
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Rethinking the Adequate Provision: What the FDA’s Proposal Means for Broadcast Drug Advertising

Posted on Categories FDA

We are all familiar with drug advertisements on TV: someone has a problem, the drug easily solves it, and a jingle slowly spills out in the background as the commercial fades away. As it fades, an extensive list of the drug’s side effects is listed in rapid-fire succession, followed by a note suggesting you ask your doctor and visit the drug’s website for more information. That closing line exists because of a provision in the FDA’s prescription drug advertising regulations (the “Adequate Provision”), which allows broadcast advertisements to direct viewers to another source for the full risk information instead of requiring the information be included in the ad itself.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced plans to eliminate the Adequate Provision for broadcast prescription drug advertising, which would require advertisements to state a drug’s full risk summary. While viewers deserve to be informed on the risks associated with prescription drugs, eliminating the Adequate Provision outright is too blunt. Instead, a short, standardized on-screen disclosure would best serve viewers.
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The Tobacco Loophole: How FDA Tobacco Regulations Let Underregulated Products Slide

Posted on Categories FDA

On September 2nd, 2026, U.S.-based tobacco companies Helix Innovations, LLC and NJOY, LLC (collectively, Altria) filed a lawsuit against the FDA to vacate its 2021 Pre-Market Tobacco Applications (PMTA) rule. Specifically, Altria seeks to block the enforcement of pre-market review requirements for pending tobacco products which primarily affect smokeless tobacco products and electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS). Under the Tobacco Consumer Act (TCA), the FDA is mandated to approve or deny applications for tobacco products within 180 days. However, Altria argues that the promulgation of the 2021 PMTA rule coupled with the 2016 “Deeming” Rule has caused extensive regulatory backlogs for the FDA, resulting in their numerous violations of the statutory deadline to review tobacco product applications.  

Altria’s complaint contends that delays have harmed both domestic business and public health by creating a regulatory gridlock. Under the 2021 PMTA rule, tobacco manufacturers are required to submit substantial evidence reports with distinct materials for each product, including risk investigations, marketing plans, environmental and population impacts, and other uniquely relevant documentation. While U.S. manufacturers seeking to comply face excessive red tape stalling scientifically backed products from reaching the market, foreign-sourced tobacco products have flooded the U.S. market with unregulated alternatives that expressly target American youth. By failing to issue timely decisions, the FDA has inadvertently undermined consumer safety and penalized companies attempting to follow the law.   
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Cleared for Takeoff, Rough Landing Ahead: Compliance Issues in CORSIA Implementation

Posted on Categories Environmental, International Affairs

A sky suffocating with carbon must still carry the metal weight of its inhabitants. Every day, more than 100,000 planes release carbon emissions. A solution for this strain on the environment was to build the first market-based compliance framework, holding airlines accountable for any excessive emissions they produced. This framework is the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), which is administered by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). 

On paper, CORSIA fueled optimism that international environmental accountability for aviation was possible. Airlines were to monitor and report their emissions, and those exceeding an agreed baseline would be required to purchase carbon credits that finance emission reductions elsewhere. In practice, its design provides transgressors with ample room to participate in name while limiting what they actually owe. Through voluntary participation, easy withdrawal, filed differences, and state-by-state enforcement, countries have found ways to stay inside the framework while keeping much of their aviation footprint outside it. CORSIA’s shortcomings expose how weak international environmental accountability remains, leaving aviation emissions free to fly under the radar. 
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How Burdensome is Transparency: Practical Considerations of the SEC Proposed Semiannual Reporting Framework

Posted on Categories SEC

The SEC’s proposed rule to permit public companies to file semiannual reports in lieu of quarterly reports may create one of the worst shifts in access to timely and reliable information for investors in the last 50 years. U.S. securities markets are the deepest, most liquid capital markets in the world, and have undoubtedly benefited from consistent and reliable reporting of public companies. Nonetheless, the SEC and others highlight that this rule change gives public companies flexibility and reduces costly compliance burdens. Additionally, they believe the proposal will reduce the short-term effects on stock prices and their corresponding volatility, allowing company management to focus on longer-term strategies over short-term returns. Others, including the SEC’s Investor Advisory Council (IAC), argue that the proposed rule harms investors by widening the information gap between the investing public and corporate insiders. Under the SEC’s proposed rules, investors lose a key source of information while bad actors gain a significant advantage on material nonpublic information between reporting cycles. 
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When Data Centers Become Toxic: Turning Public Backlash into Lasting Regulation

Posted on Categories Energy, Environmental, technology

Data centers have rapidly emerged across the country to support the AI boom. Originally, policymakers were supportive of data center construction in their communities because they promised an influx of construction jobs, tax revenue, and community investment. To compete for data center construction in their communities, policymakers relaxes permitting requirements, offered tax subsidies, and signed non-disclosure agreements to keep development plans hidden. This competitive deregulation began to devolve into a race to the bottom; then, the public realized promises of construction fell short. 

Data centers’ enormous energy consumption has spiked demand, forcing utility companies to build additional infrastructure and drive up rates for everyone on the grid. The rising energy prices—coupled with impacts on water resources, the environment, and community character—have made the public resentful of data centers in their communities. In response to the growing public resentment, elected officials facing reelection in the November midterm races are pivoting away from pro-data center policies toward increased regulation. Those officials should use the political momentum to build coordinated approaches that will prevent competitive deregulation and protect ratepayers long after the midterms. 
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Flock Cameras and the Modern-Day Panopticon

Posted on Categories Privacy & Security

In 2017, three Georgia Tech University graduates sought to create a dynamic automated license plate reader (ALPR) system to combat unsolved crimes in their community. Today, their company, Flock Safety, has rolled out more than 100,000 ALPRs in 6,000 communities across the United States. Additionally, as of August 9, 2026, the surveillance equipment company has solidified partnerships with nearly 5,000 law enforcement agencies. Partners of Flock Safety enjoy unfettered access to the company’s AI-powered database, where individual ALPRs record and upload traffic data into a searchable catalog of license plate numbers and other automobile identification markers, such as make, model, color, and even unique characteristics like scratches on automobiles. While ALPRs have historically been employed to regulate traffic safety and crime, Flock Safety has distinguished itself by allowing partnered law enforcement agencies the ability to provide government organizations access to data gathered on individuals across the country. Critics of the Flock Safety surveillance system note that the manipulation of such a sensitive compilation of data allows virtually any Flock Safety partner to surveil American citizens without a uniform system of compliance to regulate their access. Ultimately, the absence of federal regulation to restrain the authority of AI-powered ALPR systems allows both local law enforcement and federal agencies to abuse their access to these systems and violate the privacy of U.S. citizens.
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