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Sometimes the Government just might work as it was intended.
In an earlier post, I reported on a lawsuit brought by a coalition of environmental and consumer safety groups requesting declaratory and injunctive relief under the Administrative Procedure Act to force the FDA to respond to a 2006 petition seeking action by the agency to assure the safety of members of the public exposed to nanomaterials, particularly nanoparticles in sunscreens. On May 14, 2012, the coalition voluntarily dismissed its action, International Center for Technology Assessment v. Hamburg, a case that had been brought in federal court for the Northern District of California (No. 11-6592).
In other posts on this blog, I have reported on the draft guidances recently issued by the FDA on the safety of nanomaterials in food, food packaging, and cosmetics, as well as the upcoming International Cooperation on Cosmetics Regulation (ICCR), to be hosted by the FDA. The coalition has withdrawn its lawsuit because the FDA has in fact finally responded to the earlier petition by issuing the draft guidances. Although attorneys for the coalition have emphasized that the FDA’s response does not propose all the relief the coalition sought in its lawsuit, at the present time the FDA is showing interest in the safety of engineered nanomaterials in products within the agency’s jurisdiction. The lawsuit had sought, among other things, regulation of these nanomaterials. But the FDA guidance documents made recommendations for voluntary measures by industry, not new regulation. This, of course, leaves open the possibility of a future lawsuit challenging the steps taken – or not taken – by the FDA in furtherance of the safety initiatives.
Our high school civics classes teach us that the tripartite structure of the federal Government is intended to allow the various parts of the Government to act as a check on the actions or inactions of the other parts. In recent years, the judicial system has been much maligned. In the matter of nanomaterials and the FDA, the threat of judicial intervention – being told by the courts what it should do – was likely one (and only one) motivation for the FDA to pursue a safety agenda for nanomaterials. Instead of needlessly consuming resources at this stage, the coalition withdrew its lawsuit when the FDA moved forward on this subject. So let’s give a hand all around for the Government working as it was intended.
The withdrawal of the coalition’s lawsuit was reported by
Pat Rizzuto, Coalition Withdraws Lawsuit Against FDA Following Agency’s Release of Guidance, 100 Daily Env’t Rep. (BNA) A-15 (May 24, 2012) (by subscription)
