The Food & Drug Administration has issued a warning to Curaleaf for marketing its CBD products with ‘unsubstantiated’ health claims. The company was reportedly making claims on its social media handles that its CBD products could even cure cancer and Parkinson’s.
The letter comes amid rising concerns that many companies are resorting to making false scientific claims to sell products, in the absence of a regulatory framework. “Selling unapproved products with wild therapeutic claims — like CBD can treat serious/terminal conditions and illnesses — could put patients and consumers’ health at risk by leading them to put off necessary medical care,” said Dr. Ned Sharpless, acting FDA commissioner, in a press release.
In case you weren’t aware, CBD products are treated as ‘drugs’ by the FDA as they are “intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of a condition or disease” or “intended to affect the structure or any function of the human body.”
In response, a spokesperson for Curaleaf said that the letter from the FDA is currently “under review” by the company’s legal counsel. “Curaleaf will respond to the letter within the allotted 15 business days. Until further progress happens, we want to reiterate that compliance is a top priority for our company. We can reaffirm that nothing in the letter points to any issues concerning the safety of any Curaleaf product. All of our products are derived from hemp and meet the requirements of the Farm bill,” the statement said.
The FDA wants Curaleaf to respond with either the corrections made or the reason if the company believes that the marketing of its products is not in violation. Failing to do so may result in legal action, including the seizure or ban of a CBD product.
This isn’t the first time that the FDA has sent a letter warning a CBD company of its ‘shenanigans’. Earlier this year, the regulatory authority issued notices to Nutra Pure in Washington state, PotNetwork Holdings in Florida and Advanced Spine and Pain in New Jersey for making ‘unsubstantiated’ claims.
The highly liberal CBD market has been flooded with products of late. However, in the absence of an intervening regulatory authority, nothing much can be done about the quality and efficacy claims made by CBD companies for their products.
