On May 6, 2025, FDA announced that it planned to conduct more surprise inspections at foreign manufacturing facilities that produce foods, essential medicines, and other medical products intended for U.S. consumers. The stated goals are to ensure that “foreign companies will receive the same level …
There has been increased enforcement against medical device companies that engage in the pervasive practice of paying third party sales agents based on their volume of sales. This scrutiny was enhanced after the Fourth Circuit’s ruling in United States v. Mallory, 988 F.3d 730 (4th …
The recent and drastic Reduction In Force (RIF) at the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is already having ripple effects not just internally, but across the broader regulatory and life sciences communities and the public at large. While much of the focus has …
This is the first in a series of blog posts on tips for successfully handling an FDA inspection. Using publicly available examples, these “lessons” will illustrate potential pitfalls and strategies for interacting with FDA during and after an inspection. Although FDA has long taken the …
It took only 3 months. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the SEC cannot use its administrative authority to impose civil penalties for securities fraud on the ground that these penalties violate the U.S. Constitution’s Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial. See SEC …
While we hope readers of the Blog, as our clients and friends, come out of any FDA inspection with a clean bill of health, we know that based on FDA FY2024 data to date, approximately 40% of inspections of medical device companies end up classified …
Among FDA-regulated establishments and stakeholders, there is one word that makes everyone go on edge – the dreaded FDA “inspection.” In an effort to clarify for industry and alleviate some of the stress associated with these activities, last week the FDA issued a draft guidance …
Although the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) has been around for over 50 years to “protect the public against unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products,” it was not until 2008 that the statute was amended to authorize the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) …
In our June blog post, we reported on FDA’s request for comments about its program to receive information from the public alleging misconduct by other companies. FDA uses this program to help it identify risks and to determine whether further investigation is needed. Because this …
DOJ has issued another “voluntary disclosure” policy intended to encourage companies to disclose misconduct it discovers as part of a merger and acquisition. Under this new policy, a company will receive a “presumption of declination” of agency action – i.e., a safe harbor – if …
As readers of the FDA Law Blog know, the FDC Act is a strict liability criminal enforcement statute that can impose criminal misdemeanor penalties on a person without any showing of intent. See some of our prior posts, here, here, and here. If committed with …
Last fall, we blogged about the process FDA uses to review allegations of regulatory misconduct against device manufacturers, suggesting greater transparency on the FDA process was needed (see here). FDA now seeks comments on this very program to support its continued collection of information as …
The question of whether FDA has authority to take pictures during an inspection of a facility has bounced around the food and drug bar for many years. FDA’s view is stated in the agency’s Investigation Operations Manual, and it is one with which a number …
Legal doctrines can be like parrots. Sometimes it is hard to know if they are dead or just resting. Under the False Claims Act (FCA), if a company’s fraudulent conduct induces a governmental entity to enter into a contract with the company, then any claims for …
All companies dread the logistics, cost, and reputational harm associated with conducting a recall when necessary to remove or correct products in the field. But the more prepared a company is for a potential recall, the less pressure it will feel when a situation necessitates …
