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    • Getting to the Bottom of the Bottomley Case?July 24th, 2013

      By JP Ellison – Last week, John Roth, the Director of FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations posted on FDA’s blog, FDA Voice.  His post concerned a criminal case that had interested us about a Montana resident who had pled guilty and been sentenced on a …

    • FDA Racks Up a Circuit Court Loss in Imported and Unapproved Thiopental Sodium Case; Will It Jeopardize FDA’s Drug Shortage Program?July 23rd, 2013

      By Kurt R. Karst –   In a unanimous decision handed down on July 23rd by a 3-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in Cook v. FDA (Case No. 12-5176), the Court largely affirmed a March 2012 decision …

    • Fecal Microbiota Transplantation: FDA Announces Limited Enforcement DiscretionJuly 23rd, 2013

      By Alexander J. Varond – Undoubtedly, most microbes in humans are nonpathogenic, if not beneficial (a.k.a., “good bacteria”).  But, since at least the advent of the microscope, humans have shown great hostility toward pathogenic microbes, and relatively little regard for those that are nonpathogenic.  Antibiotics are …

    • Amended COOL Regulations Constitutionally UncoolJuly 22nd, 2013

      By Riëtte van Laack – In a lawsuit filed in federal court, meat industry representatives have challenged the constitutionality of Country of Origin Labeling (“COOL”) regulations as amended by USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (“AMS”) in May of 2013.  To understand the origin of the lawsuit, it …

    • The Mystery of the Missing MDR NoticeJuly 21st, 2013

      By Jennifer D. Newberger & Jeffrey N. Gibbs – In the draft MDR guidance discussed in our prior post, FDA stated that it has not yet issued a Federal Register notice required by the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (“FDAAA”) regarding certain …

    • “Put Down that Camera,” No MoreJuly 18th, 2013

      By Doug Farquhar – For decades (although not quite since the invention of film), the debate has raged among lawyers who advise clients about FDA inspections: can regulated industry insist that FDA investigators conducting inspections without a warrant put away their cameras, when the investigators try …

    • FDA SOS: New Bill Would Exempt FDA User Fees From the Ravages of SequestrationJuly 18th, 2013

      By Kurt R. Karst –       “… — …” – That’s the international Morse code distress signal commonly shown as SOS.  SOS is also in the title of the acronymized “FDA SOS Act,” or the “FDA Safety Over Sequestration Act,” which a bipartisan group of members …

    • In Case You (Like Everyone) Missed It – The Administrative Conference of the United States is BackJuly 17th, 2013

      By Joseph W. Cormier – Last week, the Administrative Conference of the United States ("ACUS") made four recommendations to the Executive Branch and independent agencies, three of which may be of interest to readers of this blog. Among its first recommendations this year, the ACUS …

    • FDA Continues to Solicit Comments on Drug Supply Chain IssuesJuly 16th, 2013

      By James E. Valentine* & Anne K. Walsh – Despite Congress giving FDA new powers to regulate the integrity of the drug supply chain, the globalization of the pharmaceutical market continues to present clear challenges for the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”).  FDA’s new authorities …

    • A Punt Return, Not a Fumble Return, in the Second FDA Resolution of a 180-Day Exclusivity Punt CaseJuly 15th, 2013

      By Kurt R. Karst – Touchdown!  It was just last month that we posted on the first instance in which FDA resolved what has become known as a “180-day exclusivity punt.”  As we explained then, “180-day exclusivity punts” are instances in which a first applicant eligible …

    • The 2013 ABA Blawg 100 – Our Shameless Plug for NominationsJuly 15th, 2013

      It’s that time of year again when we at the FDA Law Blog ask our loyal readers to nominate us for the American Bar Association’s (“ABA’s”) Blawg 100.  It’s a list of the top 100 legal blogs – or “blawgs” – in the blogosphere.  With …

    • All Device Manufacturers Must Report!July 14th, 2013

      By Jennifer D. Newberger – At long last, 16 years after the most recent version, FDA has issued a new draft guidance about medical device reporting for manufacturers.  Companies have long complained about the ambiguities in the regulation.  In a typical case of “be careful what …

    • Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics: Another Report on Drug Patent Settlement AgreementsJuly 11th, 2013

      By Kurt R. Karst –       You know the drill . . . .  One organization comes out with a report saying one thing supported by various data.  Days later, another organization comes out with a report saying another thing supported by other data.   In what …

    • Companies Seek Expansion of Soluble Fiber-Coronary Heart Disease Health ClaimJuly 10th, 2013

      Two companies, DKSH Italia Srl and Polycell Technologies LLC, have filed a citizen petition with FDA asking that it expand the health claim on soluble fiber and coronary heart disease to include their product, Glucagel.  The petition describes Glucagel as a “barley beta-glucan fiber that …

    • New IMS Report Ups the Ante on Drug Patent Settlement Agreement SavingsJuly 10th, 2013

      By Kurt R. Karst – Although the battle over the appropriate test to apply to drug patent settlement agreements (aka “reverse payment” or “pay-for-delay” settlement agreements) when evaluating whether or not they are immume from antitrust attack ended with the U.S. Supreme Court’s June 17th decision …