Supreme Court May Hear Cosmetics Case Exploring Federal Preemption

The United States Solicitor General is expected to file a brief early in 2015 on a case examining if the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act preempts an unfair competition claim in California pertaining to the cosmetics/drugs regulatory divide. The case, Athena Cosmetics vs. Allergan, could be heard by the Supreme Court and bring attention to the way cosmetics are defined and regulated under federal law.

The long legal battle between pharmaceutical firm Allergan Inc. and [Athena Cosmetics Inc.] could be coming to a head, as what began as a patent dispute between the competing eyelash-enhancement marketers may now have the Supreme Court deciding whether drug/cosmetic debates are a matter of state or federal authority.

Athena has petitioned the Supreme Court to review a lower court’s decision that its RevitaLash eyelash-enhancement formulas are drugs as defined by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and therefore, under California law, compete

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