Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Salmonella Risk Prompts FDA To Issue First-Ever Mandatory Recall Over Kratom
Federal drug regulators issued their first-ever mandatory recall Tuesday to a company selling several products containing聽the herbal supplement kratom and contaminated with Salmonella.聽The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it issued the order because聽Triangle Pharmanaturals of Las聽Vegas refused to cooperate. (O'Donnell, 4/3)
The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it took the rare step of ordering the recall because Triangle Pharmanaturals refused to cooperate with U.S. regulators. Companies typically comply with government requests and voluntarily recall tainted products. Calls and an email to the company were not immediately returned Tuesday morning. (Perrone, 4/3)
The FDA doesn't have the authority to order mandatory recalls for drugs and seeks voluntary recalls if it sees a safety problem. But it got mandatory-recall authority for tainted food under the聽Food Safety and Modernization Act that went into effect in 2011. 鈥淭his action is based on the imminent health risk posed by the contamination of this product with salmonella, and the refusal of this company to voluntarily act to protect its customers and issue a recall, despite our repeated requests and actions,鈥 FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said in a statement. (McGinley, 4/3)