Health And Wellness Industry News: Restoring Access Bill Introduced, Another Dietary Fiber Meets FDA Definition, More

Restoring Access to OTC bill introduced; West Virginia is 18th state to prohibit sales of DXM-containing cough suppressant to minors without a prescription; American Botanical Council presents Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence Award to Swiss pharmacist Otto Sticher; FDA adds another fiber to definition of dietary fiber; and Jarrow probiotics top ConsumerLab brand survey.

OTC Restoring Access bill introduced

The Restoring Access to Medication Act introduced in the House would reinstate consumers’ direct purchases of OTC drugs with pre-tax- savings accounts and extends eligibility for using the accounts to feminine hygiene products. Flexible spending arrangements, health savings accounts and other pre-tax accounts since 2011, under a provision in the Affordable Care Act, have been eligible for OTC products only when consumers have prescriptions from doctors. The legislation was introduced by Reps. Ron Kind (D-WI), Grace Meng (D-NY), Jackie Walorski (R-IN) and Darin LaHood (R-IL). "For years, I have been fighting to add menstrual hygiene products to the list of HSA-FSA eligible items, and I'm proud to continue championing that effort in this new legislation. There is no reason to prohibit individuals from using their HSA-FSA funds to pay for menstrual products. They are basic and essential items and adding them to the list of eligible expenses would go a long way toward making these products more affordable and accessible to women," Meng said in a release.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association has lobbied since Congress passed the ACA to again allow direct OTC purchases with pre-tax savings accounts. Bills proposing the change have been introduced in every session of Congress since then but none have gained sufficient support for passage. CHPA noted a study it released last week shows that 90% of US consumers prefer using OTC medicines before seeing health care providers and that, on average, each dollar spent on OTC medicines saves the US health care system $7.20, totaling nearly $146bn in annual savings. (Also see "Providing High Value, OTC Drugs Deserve Higher Profile In Health Care – CHPA" - HBW Insight, 18 Mar, 2019.) “Restoring OTC eligibility is good policy that saves consumers and the US healthcare system money. Each Congress, we’ve seen movement on this issue and we applaud members for expanding their bipartisan efforts to include FSA/HSA eligibility for feminine hygiene products," said CHPA President and CEO Scott Melville in a release.

West Virginia sets OTC DXM sales age restriction

West Virginia becomes the 18th state to prohibit sales of dextromethorphan-containing cough suppressant to minors without a prescription. The law, which goes into effect May 31, will require retailers and pharmacies to check identification before selling DXM-containing medicine to consumers, in an effort to crack down on abuse by teenagers. The Consumer Healthcare Products Association on March 26 said West Virginia is the 18^th state to pass a law restricting DXM sales to minors, joining Alaska, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, Nevada, Oregon, Colorado, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. In January, Reps. Doris Matsui, D-CA and Bill Johnson, R-OH, renewed their push for a national age-18 requirement for buying OTC medicines containing DXM, with the introduction of the DXM Abuse Prevention Act of 2018 (H.R. 863), legislation they also sponsored in the previous session. (Also see "Health Market News: DXM Sales Age-Restriction Bill Filed, E-Cigarettes Top NRTs In UK Trial " - HBW Insight, 30 Jan, 2019.) However, legislation for the change has been introduced in Congress without success for a decade.

RS4 next for FDA dietary fiber definition

FDA will propose adding cross-linked phosphorylated resistant starch (RS4) “regardless of source” to its definition of “dietary fiber” after determining that scientific evidence suggests the ingredient can help reduce insulin levels following a raise in glucose levels from a meal containing a carbohydrate. In a March 27 notice, the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition said the proposal is in response to an October 2016 citizen petition from Atchison, Kan.-based MGP Ingredients, Inc, manufacturer of Fibersym RW resistant wheat starch, used often in flour-based foods. The ingredient would be the 16^th category of non-digestible carbohydrates that are either included in the definition of dietary fiber or are non-digestible carbohydrates that FDA intends to propose be added to the definition. Seven of the fibers were identified in the Nutrition Facts label final rule as meeting the definition. FDA’s final rules for labeling, published in May 2016, included fibers beta-glucan soluble fiber, psyllium husk, cellulose, guar gum, pectin, locust bean gum and hydroxypropylmethlycellulose and increased the recommended daily intake of fiber to 28g from a previous recommendation of up to 25g.  (Also see "'Landmine' Of Consequences In Nutrition, Supplement Facts Label Changes" - HBW Insight, 22 Jul, 2016.)

Jarrow Formulas is the “#1 Probiotics Brand” for customer satisfaction in ConsumerLab.com's 2019 Survey of Vitamin and Supplement Users.

Jarrow Formulas top ConsumerLab Probiotics brand survey

[Jarrow Formulas Inc.]'s Jarrow Formulas received the “#1 Probiotics Brand” award for customer satisfaction from ConsumerLab.com LLC’s 2019 Survey of Vitamin and Supplement Users. The Los Angeles-based firm on March 13 said that based on 10,931 responses from ConsumerLab.com subscribers who were asked to rate hundreds of brands of supplements, it received the highest percentage of “very satisfied” responses for probiotics. "Jarrow Formulas has been a probiotic pioneer for over 30 years, from first introducing multi-strain formulas and pre-release testing of its products in 1986 to combining shelf stability with enteric coating nearly 20 years ago.  We make a special point of using clinically documented strains," said President Jarrow Rogovin. The firm markets dozens of probiotic products, including formulas for women and infants.

Swiss chemist Sticher receives ABC's Farnsworth Award

The American Botanical Council presented its 2018 Norman R. Farnsworth Excellence in Botanical Research Award to Otto Sticher, a Swiss pharmacist, pharmacognosist and natural products chemist. In a March 25 release, the Austin, Texas, organization said Sticher, professor emeritus of pharmacognosy at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology In Zurich, is best known for his work on the chemistry of plant compounds known as iridoids and he also has made “extraordinary” contributions to the development of analytical methods for quality control of herbal medicines and to the knowledge of the chemistry and medicinal properties of many extracts and isolates from plants, bacteria and marine organisms. Sticher also established a ginkgo extract fingerprint, which includes the separation of 33 ginkgo flavonoids, ABC notes. The award was announced at the annual ABC Botanical Celebration and Awards Ceremony earlier in March during Natural Products Expo West. Farnsworth was a research professor of pharmacognosy and one of the founding members of ABC’s board of trustees; he died in 2011.