Have you been following the U.S. Supreme Court rulings as they have gradually been released during the month of June 2024? As one of these decisions appeared to have potential for allowing broader support for natural health access, this was selected as our Issue for this month. We were dismayed, however, when the normal release completion deadline of June 26 arrived and our selected Issue still had not been released. This report for you will therefore serve to alert you to the potential impact of one ruling that may benefit your health. You can check the media reports for the last minute add-on days, June 27 and 28 and look for the Chevron Doctrine or Deference ruling.

The 2024 Chevron Doctrine case wants to clarify the 1984 Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council case in which the Supreme Court ruled that when a law passed by Congress is unclear or ambiguous on a topic, courts should defer to a federal agency’s interpretation of the statute. The problem is that this ruling increased the power of federal agencies without accountability to the courts.

We at AHHA are most interested in how this has impacted the natural health industry. Most likely due to successful lobbying, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have been influenced to use their power to encourage the pharmaceutical industry and discourage the natural health industry

Although the specific 2024 Supreme Court case involving Chevron Doctrine was brought by fishermen, the ruling would impact all federal agencies. Why might you care? Should the Supreme Court rule to dimmish the power of federal agencies, there could be a major opportunity for the natural health industry to challenge FDA and FTC rules that restrict public access to natural health products.

So, your media search is to review the ten rulings still to be released. Look for the ruling involving Chevron Doctrine and find out whether or not there is a change in the level of power granted to federal agencies to interpret a statute. If there is a change, consider how this might be used by the leaders of the natural health industry to diminish the current restrictions.

ISSUE: What is the Supreme Court 2024 ruling involving Chevron Doctrine?

AHHA strives to maintain a neutral position and views knowledge as power. For those interested in this month’s Issue, we offer you the following background articles and encourage you to seek out the Supreme Court rulings released at the end of June to locate the Chevron Doctrine ruling.

CHEVRON U. S. A. INC. v. NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL, INC., ET AL
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (1984)

Supreme Court likely to discard Chevron (1/17/24)
by Amy Howe
SCOTUSblog
“It has been nearly 40 years since the Supreme Court indicated in Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council that courts should defer to an agency’s reasonable interpretation of an ambiguous statute. After more than three-and-a-half hours of oral argument on Wednesday, it seemed unlikely that the rule outlined in that case, known as the Chevron doctrine, will survive in its current form. A majority of the justices seemed ready to jettison the doctrine or at the very least significantly limit it.”

U.S. Supreme Court May Soon Discard or Modify Chevron Deference (5/20/24)
Holland & Knight
“This Holland & Knight alert examines the various ways in which the Court could rule and the impacts the ruling could have on agency-regulated entities.”

When Deference is Due to Federal Agencies: A Review of the Chevron Case (6/4/24)
by Barbara Pfeffer Billauer JD, MA
American Council on Science and Health
“Most anticipate the Supreme Court will roll back the Chevron Doctrine in a manner that may impact FDA drug-approval decisions. And a slew of cases have been raised to support this concern. But I’m not as convinced. The court may be less swayed where more is at stake than money versus environmental stewardship.”

The Supreme Court is weighing the power of regulators (6/10/24)
by Evan George
UCLA Newsroom
“As the Supreme Court term nears its traditional summer recess, legal observers expect one of the most far-reaching decisions to come from a pair of cases called Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce.The companies involved are looking to limit the power of regulatory agencies by overturning what’s known as the “Chevron doctrine.” UCLA Law experts say a decision in favor of these companies could strip regulators of decision-making power across the federal government.”

Chevron Revisited: Natural Health Game Changer? (6/13/24)
Alliance for Natural Health USA
“Earlier this year, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on cases that call for a decades-old legal doctrine to be overturned that gave a blank check to federal agencies to abuse their power. If this doctrine, known as the Chevron doctrine, is overturned or even weakened, many potential avenues open up to challenge FDA and FTC interpretations that have limited access to and information about dietary supplements.”

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