Boeing-NLRB and the Pharmaceutical Industry

Boeing-NLRB

Though Boeing has settled with the NLRB, the suit against the company has raised complex questions about the board’s influence over private companies.

Research Associate Trey Kovacs comments.

“Although the agreement works out for Boeing and workers in South Carolina, the case sets a dangerous precedent for future labor disputes. Now employers know the NLRB will blatantly side with Big Labor and strong-arm companies into concessions during collective bargaining. Regrettably this allows Big Labor to accuse employers of trumped up charges while the NLRB covers the legal costs.”

Pharmaceutical Industry

The FDA has yet to set firm guidelines on what pharmaceutical companies can and can’t say about their products on the internet.

Senior Fellow Greg Conko comments.

“On April 2, 2009, FDA’s Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) issued 14 Notices of Violation to drug manufacturers for their use of sponsored links on Web search engines that included the name of a drug and a brief statement about the disease it treats, while directing users to a separate website that contained complete benefit and risk information. Essentially, FDA decided to apply its its existing rules for conventional print ads, which stipulate that, if an ad contains the name of a drug or device and any affirmative statement about the product or the disease it treats, then all of the mandatory risk information must also appear in the ad.”