What Counts As A Drug Claim?
Cosmetic sellers sometimes use language that sounds medical. Here is how to spot the difference.
Cosmetic vs. drug, by definition
The FDA treats a product as a drug, not a cosmetic, when it is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease, regardless of what the label calls it.
The red flag phrase
Marketing that says a product 'targets the root cause of nail fungus' or 'helps eliminate it' is a disease-treatment claim. A cosmetic spray without an approved drug application and a Drug Facts label should not make that claim.
The contradiction to watch for
If a page makes a disease claim in its marketing copy and then says in its disclaimer that it is 'not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease,' those two statements conflict. Trust the disclaimer, and be skeptical of the marketing.
What we do instead
We describe Nail Defender as a cosmetic nail-care spray only. See Undecylenic Acid explained and when to see a podiatrist.
