The world of sports gambling has undergone a transformative shift in recent years, with the widespread legalization of betting in numerous states. The Supreme Court’s 2018 ruling striking down the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) paved the way for the rapid expansion of legalized gambling, sportsbooks, and mobile gaming. As the realm of sports wagering continues to evolve, it becomes crucial for governing bodies to adapt and establish comprehensive guidelines to preserve the integrity of collegiate athletics.

On June 2, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced modifications to its in-house adjudicative proceedings of agency challenges to mergers and acquisitions by reducing the decision-making power held by administrative law judges (ALJs). This change will affect how the agency’s antitrust challenges are decided. Even though the previous process had been in place for decades, the FTC was not required to receive public comment because the change affects only internal procedures.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently issued first-of-its kind draft guidance for investigational new drug (IND) applications involving psychedelic drugs. Citing the rise in interest in exploring the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic drugs, FDA indicated its receptiveness to allowing researchers to investigate exactly how useful psychedelics are at treating psychological disorders, such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, anxiety, and other conditions. While the guidance is not geared toward trials intended to support marketing applications, the agency’s attention to this topic may herald a new wave of associated investigations.

On June 27, Illinois AG Kwame Raoul led a coalition of 13 Democratic attorneys general nationwide in submitting a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), supporting more stringent regulation of ethylene oxide (EtO) emissions. In their letter, the coalition urged the EPA to adopt proposed amendments to EtO standards under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants program (NESHPA), and also offered several recommendations for more regulatory requirements “based on several states’ experiences regulating commercial sterilizers.”

On June 13, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Rohit Chopra provided the CFPB’s semiannual report to Congress, which included concerns about predatory house-flipping practices by companies like HomeVestors. Afterwards, Senate Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development Chair Tina Smith (D-MN) and Senate Ranking Member Lummis (R-WY) sent a letter to the National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG), requesting a coordinated effort to prevent cash homebuyers from entrapping sellers into unfair contracts.

On June 8, more than 50 members of Congress signed a letter addressed to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf, expressing concerns over FDA’s delays in reviewing pending Premarket Tobacco Product Applications (PMTAs) and its failure to remove unauthorized products from the market. The letter strongly urges “FDA to (1) expeditiously complete review of remaining e-cigarette PMTAs; (2) follow the science on the risks flavored [e-cigarettes] pose to youth and deny PMTAs for all non-tobacco flavored e-cigarettes, including menthol flavored products; and (3) increase enforcement actions against companies that make, distribute, and sell flavored products without a marketing order, especially products with a significant market share, or products that are most popular with youth.” The letter also requests that FDA respond to several questions by June 23, as summarized below (as of the date of this blog post, we are not aware of any FDA response).

The federal government, the District of Columbia, and each of the 50 states have Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) laws that allow individuals to file requests for specific public documents with government agencies and quickly receive them unless the documents are subject to statutory exemptions. As most federal and state FOIA statutes were originally passed in the late 1960s, they impose some duties upon government agencies that many believe no longer make sense in the digital era.