By Roger C. Thies – FDA announced on March 30, 2011 that it “does not intend to take enforcement action against pharmacies that compound hydroxyprogesterone caproate based on a valid prescription for an individually identified patient unless the compounded products are unsafe, of substandard quality, or …
By Kurt R. Karst – Although we were not in attendance at today's argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in PLIVA Inc. v. Mensing (09-993), Actavis v. Mensing (09-1039), and Actavis v. Demahy (09-1501) concerning whether certain Circuit Court decisions “abrogated the Hatch-Waxman Amendments by allowing …
By Ricardo Carvajal – At FDA’s public meeting on the food import safety provisions of the Food Safety Modernization Act ("FSMA") (see our prior blog posting here), the challenges posed by implementation of those provisions started to take shape. Presentations by agency personnel, industry representatives, and …
By Riëtte van Laack – Approximately three years ago, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") filed a complaint against Daniel Chapter One and James Fijio (“DCO”) for the advertising of four dietary supplements as cures for various cancers. The FTC ruled that DCO’s claims were deceptive and …
By Kurt R. Karst – Late last week, Par Pharmaceutical, Inc. (“Par”) filed a Complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania seeking a declaration that two recently issued patents – U.S. Patent Nos. 7,858,122 (“the ‘122 patent”) and 7,863,316 (“the ‘316 …
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara's Jeffrey N. Wasserstein (co-founder of the FDA Law Blog) will be moderating a panel on social media and therapeutic products at the FDLI Annual Meeting, April 5-6, 2011, at the Ronald Reagan International Trade Center, in Washington, DC. The panel will …
By Alan M. Kirschenbaum – Today drug and device manufacturers and other stakeholders had an opportunity to provide comments to CMS during an Open Door Forum teleconference on how the physician payment sunshine provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") should be …
By Nisha P. Shah & Alan M. Kirschenbaum – In an unusual step, the State of California’s Department of Insurance intervened in a qui tam lawsuit brought against Bristol-Myers Squibb (“BMS”) by three former employees, including a former member of the L.A. Lakers. In The People …
By JP Ellison – The criminal prosecution of Lauren Stevens, the former in-house counsel for GSK, took another twist yesterday when Judge Titus dismissed her indictment without prejudice. We have previously reported on this prosecution here and here. Judge Titus found that the prosecutors' explanation to …
Have you been looking for that one, comprehensive publication that covers intellectual property and patent law issues in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and chemical industries from around the world’s key jurisdictions? Well, it’s finally here – or will be in the next month or so when …
By Ricardo Carvajal – The Supreme Court affirmed a 9th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that allows a securities fraud class action to go forward against Matrixx Initiatives, Inc. ("Matrixx") for allegedly violating § 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act and Exchange Commission Rule 10b-5. As …
By Ricardo Carvajal – Last week FDA published a Q&A that explains steps the agency is taking to ensure that foods imported from Japan are safe. Currently FDA does not believe there is any risk to the U.S. food supply, but is continuing to gather information …
By Larry K. Houck – Early March on Capitol Hill has seen a flurry of legislation designed to combat a number of perceived controlled substance problems, including opioid treatment, pain management, drugs marketed to kids and pill mills. Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act of 2011 Senator …
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C. (“HP&M”) and VirginiaTech are pleased to announce the availability of the first two DVD’s of the VERSUS series that is being sponsored by VirginiaTech. They provide an overview of the processes a prescription drug must follow to be FDA-approved and …
By Kurt R. Karst – Last week, Senator Robert Casey (D-PA), along with co-sponsors Sens. Scott Brown (R-MA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Al Franken (D-MN), and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), formally introduced S. 606, the Creating Hope Act of 2011. The bill, which, according to Sen. Casey “has …
