Hangover claims
draw FDA caution
The federal Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to several companies that it said were improperly marketing supplements that claim to treat or prevent hangovers, the agency announced last week.
The products, several of which were sold nationally, "could potentially harm consumers, especially young adults," said Steven Tave, director of the FDA's Office of Dietary Supplement Programs.
"Consumers may get the false impression that using these products can prevent or mitigate health problems caused by excessive drinking," he said.
"Dietary supplements are not a substitute for responsibly limiting one's alcohol consumption."
By marketing products as supplements without health regulators' approval, the companies potentially violated the Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act, the agency wrote in a news release.
Companies have 15 days to state how they will correct the violation.
People who have had a bad reaction to such products are encouraged to report them to the FDA.
A list of companies receiving warning letters included Double Wood, Ebnsol, Vita Heaven (doing business as Hangover Heaven), Happy Hour Vitamins, LES Labs, Purple Biosciences and Mind, Body & Coal.
None are headquartered in Arkansas.
$2M grant to aid
in HIV, AIDS fight
Arkansas received $2.12 million in grant funding to combat HIV and AIDS, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in July.
The award is part of $109 million distributed by the federal government as part of a broad initiative to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. The program was announced in 2019 and spans 10 years.
Funding is targeted to county hot spots where the most infections occur and to seven states with a high rural HIV burden, which includes Arkansas.
Of those states, Arkansas' award was larger than Kentucky's and Mississippi's, and was about the same as Oklahoma's.
"Make no mistake -- our challenge to end the HIV epidemic -- just got immeasurably harder and more complex due to the massive disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic," Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said in a statement announcing the funding.
"It is time to double down."