Lawmakers eye more oversight of dietary supplements and cosmetics

Top lawmakers on the Senate health committee are proposing to beef up FDA oversight of dietary supplements, cosmetics and lab-developed tests as part of a sweeping plan to reauthorize regulatory programs.

Why it matters: The agency has faced challenges looking out for unproven claims or companies that aren’t safely manufacturing products.

Where it stands: A draft plan released Tuesday by Senate HELP Committee Chair Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Ranking Member Richard Burr (R-N.C.) would, among other things, require premarket approval of supplements and make manufacturers disclose what’s in their products.

• The FDA lacks authority to approve supplements, and firms generally don’t have to provide evidence for the FDA to conclude the products are safe.
• Some supplement manufacturers are aggressively fighting the plan: The Natural Products Association says it would drive up consumer costs and weaken privacy protections for the industry’s supply chain.

Go deeper: Murray and Burr’s plan would also address the agency’s oversight of lab-developed tests, which became a friction point during the Trump administration.

• And it would require cosmetics manufacturers to track and report adverse events involving their products and make the FDA set good manufacturing practices.
• The proposals are wrapped in a larger package that would renew FDA user fees that help fund the agency’s product evaluations.
• Any plan that emerges from the Senate would still have to be blended with a House FDA reform package.