By Kurt R. Karst – A recent report from the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”), titled “FDA Needs to Enhance Its Oversight of Drugs Approved on the Basis of Surrogate Endpoints,” finds that weaknesses in FDA’s monitoring and enforcement process have hampered the Agency’s ability to …
By Carrie S. Martin – On November 30, 2009, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Merck & Co. v. Reynolds, No. 08-905, a securities class action. The case concerns the standard of inquiry required to start the clock running on the …
By Alan M. Kirschenbaum & Kurt R. Karst – Last Thursday we reported on the release by the House of H.R. 3962, the health care reform bill that will soon be considered on the House floor. As we have done with other health care reform …
By Ricardo Carvajal – FDA has again posted a warning letter to Procter and Gamble stating that the company’s VICKS DayQuil Plus Vitamin C and VICKS NyQuil Plus Vitamin C are unapproved new drugs and are misbranded. The letter states that, when “drug and dietary …
JP Ellison – In March of 2008, we reported on a Wisconsin federal district court opinion that dismissed a plaintiff’s Lanham Act claim against three manufacturers of generic prescription drug products. On October 29, 2008, the Seventh Circuit issued a decision in an appeal of …
By Kurt R. Karst – A recent report issued by the London School of Economics and Political Science (“LSEPS”), and commissioned by the Swedish government, urges governments to create new incentives to promote the research and development of antibiotics in light of the growing concern over …
By Alan M. Kirschenbaum & Kurt R. Karst – Earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) unveiled the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962). The bill, which is the latest version of the House’s healthcare reform proposal and the one that will go …
By Susan J. Matthees – On October 27th, on the heels of the release of the Government Accountability Office’s report in which the Office is critical of FDA’s oversight of clinical investigators (see our previous post), Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) introduced H.R.3932, the Strengthening of …
By Susan J. Matthees – Last month the Government Accountability Office ("GAO") published a new report ("GAO report") on the oversight of clinical investigators. The report is critical of FDA’s oversight of clinical investigators, citing numerous instances where FDA did not take timely action to respond …
By Kurt R. Karst – Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California a filed by Mutual Pharmaceutical Company, Inc. (“Mutual”), and AR Scientific, Inc. and AR Holding Company, Inc. (“AR”) in a Lanham Act case concerning the continued marketing …
By Susan J. Matthees – FDA recently announced two new developments related to its review of proprietary name submissions. First, FDA announced the availability of a new manual of policies and procedures (“MAPP”), MAPP 6720.2: Procedures for Handling Requests for Proprietary Name Review, that details the …
By Alan M. Kirschenbaum – Last Friday the Senate Finance Committee completed its mark-up of the “America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009.” The Committee is awaiting scoring by the Congressional Budget Office before it votes on the bill this week. Earlier we reported on the original …
By William T. Koustas – FDA recently issued its most extensive guidance for industry regarding Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies (“REMS”) since their enactment of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (“FDAAA”). The “Draft Guidance for Industry: Format and Content of Proposed …
By William T. Koustas – The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (“Court”) recently issued an opinion affirming the FDA’s (or “Agency”) approval of the anthrax vaccine for all known routes of infection and rejected the Plaintiffs’ efforts to enjoin …
By Jeffrey K. Shapiro – FDA’s Office of Combination Products (“OCP”) recently issued a proposed rule (74 Fed. Reg. 48,423) setting forth current good manufacturing practice (“cGMP”) requirements for combination products. The proposed rule does not independently establish new requirements; rather, it clarifies which set of …
