Off-Label Drug Promotion, Happy Meals, and Maryland Liquor
Today in the News
Off-Label Drug Promotion
CEI Senior Fellow Gregory Conko‘s recent study, Truth or Consequences: The Perils and Protection of Off-Label Drug and Medical Device Promotion, is ranked in the Social Science Research Network’s Top Ten List of Medical-Legal Studies.
From the abstract: “This paper examines the role of off-label prescribing in medical practice and the regulation of off-label promotion. It also discusses the scope of permissible commercial speech regulation and analyzes the constitutionality of off-label speech restrictions in light of applicable case law. It concludes that the FDA’s ban on off-label promotion is unconstitutional, but suggests less burdensome alternative restrictions that likely would pass constitutional muster while still advancing the government’s asserted interests.”
Happy Meals
Despite Mayor Gavin Newsom’s decision to veto the San Francisco Happy Meal ban, the law will likely go into effect next year because of the board’s override power.
CEI is hosting a Facebook event encouraging people across the country to celebrate “Happy Meal Choice Day” on November 20th.
“The Competitive Enterprise Institute invites you to consider taking your family to McDonald’s for Happy Meals on Saturday, November 20th, to celebrate the fact that you still have that right–unlike the people of San Francisco. Options are important and allow parents to experiment; there is no perfect way to raise a child. Common sense should tell us that taking a son or daughter out for the occasional Happy Meal is not child abuse, nor is it reason for government intervention. Part of living in a free society is having the ability to control how your child develops, within reason.”
Maryland Liquor
Montgomery County, Maryland is going to start opening its county liquor stores on Sundays.
Policy Analyst Michelle Minton says that private beer and wine retailers who oppose the new county policy should focus on campaigning for county stores to be closed altogether.
“According to the Rockville Patch, County Executive Ike Leggett — the same official that ordered the six-month Sunday sale pilot program — is considering completely privatizing liquor sales in the county. While his comments were very tentative, it should give Montgomery County store owners a legitimate target: end county sales: ‘Leggett said he would ask the Department of Liquor Control to study the privatization issue and the pros and cons of Sunday sales after the six-month Sunday sales trial concludes in May.’ The county currently collects around $28 million in profit each year from liquor sales and any privatization plan will likely attempt to protect that revenue. If liquor store owners in Montgomery County don’t want to compete with government-run stores, they should get on board with privatization in their county and the greater D.C. Metro area.”
