“This gas station drug nearly ruined my life,” reads the caption of one viral TikTok video. “Pharmacist reacts: THE MOST ADDICTIVE SUPPLEMENT EVER????” warns a professional in another. The subject of both? A small, vibrant blue bottle of a supplemental drink, Feel Free, marketed as a “source of clean and natural energy.” A 12-pack of […]
Tag: FDA
Energy Drinks: Does this quick fix really come without strings?
Energy drinks feel like the perfect quick fix. After drinking one can of Bang, I feel equipped with enough energy to go on a run, take two midterms, and still spare power to go to the Cal-Stanford football game. It just doesn’t seem like drinking one cup of coffee can give me the equivalent feeling […]
Unisex Contraception and a Pathway Towards Reproductive Equity
Back in the 60s, the pharmaceutical company G.D. Searle helped to develop the first hormonal contraceptive, Enovid, amidst a climate of scientific hesitance. While the complexities of reproductive physiology provided significant challenges to the conception of “the pill”, the Catholic Church, popular resentment and widespread cultural conservatism arguably provided a greater hurdle to the drug’s […]
Cruel and Unusual
How many deaths is the U.S. Food and Drug Administration directly responsible for every year? This question may strike you as facetious. After all, it’s the FDA’s mission to protect and advance public health. The regulatory and enforcement powers granted to the FDA in the 1938 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act were a result […]