Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb provided insights into the agency’s approach to products that contain cannabidiol (CBD) in April during a House Appropriations Committee hearing on FDA funding for 2020. Gottlieb reiterated that the agency considers most CBD products on the market to be unlawful. He highlighted recent FDA enforcement efforts against some companies selling […]
Passage of the Farm Bill has had a positive effect on availability and premium cost. Since my last column on this subject (December 2018), things have changed (for the better), if you are a seller of CBD products. The term “seller” here is all-inclusive; it encompasses those processing hemp into CBD and selling it as […]
The wild west of CBD is fraught with perils, not the least of which is buying liability insurance you can rely on. By Greg Doherty, Bolton & Company12.06.18 CBD has become ubiquitous. It’s in everything from cosmetics to animal and human supplements to edibles—including those that also contain the psychoactive substance THC. The barrier to […]
Product liability insurance applications can be challenging to complete, so companies need to be diligent. By Greg Doherty, Bolton & Company 07.02.18 Every day we send out applications for product liability insurance to supplement companies that have contacted us for coverage. In addition, the process requires that our existing customers “re-apply” with a new application each […]
The cost of insurance for dietary supplement startups is particularly onerous. By Greg Doherty, Bolton & Company 05.01.18 This month’s column will cover two subjects. The first is the availability of product liability insurance for companies marketing cannabidiol (CBD) products. CBD was a “hot topic” at Natural Products Expo West this year and many entrepreneurs and […]
With dangerous coverage exclusions still lurking, thorough coverage analysis remains important. Premium rates for dietary supplement and nutraceutical product liability insurance have fallen continuously and steadily since their peak in 2005, as the post-ephedra era faded into memory. A “soft” market for commercial insurance in the U.S. is also a contributing factor, with carriers fighting […]
Pitfalls abound; smart insurance and legal advice is required upfront By Greg Doherty, Bolton & Company 12.04.17 Celebrities are ubiquitous in American society. Our “culture of celebrity” as some have called it, can be very powerful, especially when it comes to endorsing products. And few products besides food and new cars are riper for celebrity endorsements […]
Supplement companies struggle with higher premium costs to satisfy the giants of retail. During the 16 years I have been running a dietary supplement insurance practice, large retail chains have almost always asked their suppliers for product liability limits that are higher than a “standard” product liability policy of $2 million. Back in the 2000s […]
By Greg Doherty, Bolton & Company | July 18 2017 Historical issues and concern over ‘the next ephedra’ diminish insurer confidence. The sports nutrition category is robust and growing as a result of demand for all kinds of performance products, including drinks, powders, bars, etc. From a product liability insurance standpoint, the majority of these […]
By Greg Doherty, Bolton & Company | May 1, 2017 Blurring lines between health and wellness products makes pricing for insurance tricky. In the old days, getting product liability insurance for your health and wellness company was pretty simple. Three broad categories existed: food, dietary supplements, and pharmaceuticals. If you were a food company, it was […]
