By Ricardo Carvajal – Some smaller cigarette manufacturers have sued FDA to invalidate a provision in FDA’s recently issued final rule that would restrict a manufacturer from using certain product names on the ground that the restriction violates the First and Fifth Amendments, among other …
By Cassandra A. Soltis – That’s what the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) is hoping anyway. In a notice expected to be published in the Federal Register on Thursday, April 29, 2010, FDA will announce that it is requesting data and information from “all interested parties,” …
By Cassandra A. Soltis – In an advertising challenge brought by the Perrigo Company (“Perrigo”), the National Advertising Division (“NAD”) of the Better Business Bureau recommended that Pharmavite, LLC (Pharmavite) refrain from making several claims for its Nature Made® Prenatal + DHA Liquid Softgel Vitamins …
By Kurt R. Karst – Last Friday, at the American Bar Association’s Section of Antitrust Law Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C., Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) Chairman Jon Leibowitz issued the FTC’s 2010 Annual Report. Among other things, including allegedly false or unsupported claims concerning dietary …
By Nisha P. Shah – FDA recently issued a white paper revealing that the Agency intends to strengthen its review of medical devices for home use, such as hemodialysis equipment, wound therapy care, intravenous therapy devices, and ventilators, as more hospital patients are being discharged …
By Kurt R. Karst – Last Friday, several days after FDA held a meeting on the public’s assessment of the overall performance of the fourth iteration of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (“PDUFA”), which was reauthorized as Title I of the 2007 FDA …
By Kurt R. Karst – In recent weeks, two advocacy groups have sent letters to FDA requesting that the Agency enhance and accelerate its enforcement activities with respect to marketed unapproved drugs. FDA began its current Unapproved Drugs Initiative in June 2006 when the …
By Kurt R. Karst – The U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware’s recent decision in Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. v. Teva Parenteral Medicines, Inc., denying a stay of patent infringement proceedings concerning generic versions of Schering’s INTEGRILIN (eptifibatide) Injection is (to our knowledge) the …
The March/April 2010 issue of FDLI Update contains an article by Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.’s Peter M. Jaensch and John R. Fleder that addresses the increasing number of cases brought under the federal Lanham Act law where plaintiffs have arguably sought to privately enforce the …
By Kurt R. Karst – Earlier this week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued its decision in Novo Nordisk A/S v. Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, Ltd., No. 2010-1001, interpreting the patent delisting counterclaim provisions at FDC Act §505(j)(5)(C)(ii)(I), as added by …
By Kurt R. Karst – It seems to be a popular headline these days: “FDA Sued Over [take your pick].” Following the frenetic losartan 180-day litigation – which is still not over, as FDA has filed a petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc …
By Susan J. Matthees – By letter of March 26, 2010, FDA denied a 2003 Citizen Petition from CTFA (now PCPC) and The Soap and Detergent Association which had requested FDA to include antiviral indications, labeling, and test methods in the Tentative Final Monograph ("TFM") …
By Jennifer B. Davis – (1) Regenerative Sciences, Inc. v. FDA. On March 26, 2010, Chief Judge Wiley Y. Daniel of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado dismissed on “ripeness” grounds a February 22, 2009 action brought by Colorado-based Regenerative Sciences, Inc. …
By Kurt R. Karst – Since 2008, FDA’s annual guidance document agendas (here, here, and here) have noted FDA’s plans to issue guidance on the Agency’s so-called Pre-Launch Activities Importation Request (“PLAIR”) program. Although FDA officials have discussed PLAIRs in presentations, the Agency has not …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Office of Inspector General ("OIG") of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a report that finds fault with FDA’s inspection activities for food facilities and recommends several changes, including an expansion of FDA’s statutory authority. OIG reviewed FDA's food …
