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    • Update on the DeCosters’ Case: Here Comes the U.S. Supreme Court (Maybe)January 22nd, 2017

      Loyal readers know that we at the FDALawBlog have been closely following a significant Park Doctrine case wending its way through the courts, involving father and son Austin (“Jack”) and Peter DeCoster, former executives of Quality Egg, LLC. In an earlier blog posting, we stated …

    • OPDP Doubles Enforcement Letters, But is Carefully Picking Its BattlesJanuary 20th, 2017

      After a relatively slow first 11 months of 2016, FDA’s Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (“OPDP”) issued a flurry of letters in the span of 9 days in December, more than doubling the enforcement letters issued up to that point in the year. And the …

    • First Circuit Rejects Fraud-on-FDA Allegations Under False Claims ActJanuary 16th, 2017

      Just before the holidays, the First Circuit gave the defense bar a gift by applying a stringent standard to reject a fraud-on-FDA claim under the federal False Claims Act (FCA). This case effectively serves as the death knell for the fraudulent inducement theory in the …

    • Not Dead Yet – OPDP Issues Two Untitled Letters Late in the Year (Our 3,000th Post!)December 18th, 2016

      Your friendly neighborhood bloggers were tempted to headline this post with a Buzzfeed worthy headline such as “When FDA pointed out THIS ONE THING, industry was SHOCKED!” or “FDA issues flood of letters – 25% of 2016 output in a single day.  What happened next …

    • FDA’s Draft Quality Metrics Guidance, Version 2.0December 5th, 2016

      Last month, FDA announced the publication of a revised version of the Draft Quality Metrics Guidance that it had published back in July of 2015. We had blogged about the original Draft Guidance at that time (see prior posting here).  Below we provide a brief …

    • There’s a New Reporting Tool in TownNovember 3rd, 2016

      By Jennifer M. Thomas –  Last week, FDA rolled out a new online reporting program, titled “Reporting Allegations of Regulatory Misconduct,” with little fanfare. No blog post in FDA Voice, no press conference, and even the (longwinded) name of the program seems calculated to send the …

    • Update on the DeCoster Criminal CaseOctober 7th, 2016

      By Jennifer M. Thomas – You might have read in our blog post two weeks ago that Quality Egg, LLC executives Austin (Jack) and Peter DeCoster had petitioned for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc of the Eight Circuit opinion affirming their three-month prison sentences.  Last …

    • Say Cheese! FDA Issues Warning Letter Based Solely on Company’s “Refusal”October 6th, 2016

      By Anne K. Walsh & Robert A. Dormer – As we predicted it might, FDA effectively shut down a drug facility based solely on its conduct during an FDA inspection, without any observed GMP or safety concern related to the company’s products or procedures.  In a …

    • The DeCosters Battle OnSeptember 20th, 2016

      By Jennifer M. Thomas – As predicted in our last post on the significant Park­­-related litigation arising out of the Quality Egg case, Austin (Jack) and Peter Decoster timely petitioned for panel or en banc rehearing of their Eighth Circuit challenge to three-month prison sentences imposed …

    • FDA Rolls Out a New Form—You May Want to Pay Attention to This OneSeptember 15th, 2016

      By JP Ellison & Wes Siegner – There are 12 pages of FDA forms on the FDA website covering everything from product topics (foods, drugs, cosmetics, etc.) to safety forms and FDA field operations forms.  Unless we missed it, one of FDA’s newest forms isn’t on its website.  …

    • FDA Releases “Notice” Advising of a Change in Inspections of Pharmacies Compounding Drug Products within FDCA Section 503A: Let’s Watch What Happens Next….July 20th, 2016

      By Karla L. Palmer – FDA posted a “Notice” on July 12, 2016, advising compounding pharmacies regulated under Section 503A that, effective August 1, 2016, FDA is changing inspection procedures for Section 503A pharmacies (see Notice here). FDA announced that it now will make a “preliminary assessment” whether compounders …

    • The Biggest Park Doctrine Ruling in Over 40 Years?July 6th, 2016

      By Jennifer M. Thomas & John R. Fleder – On July 6, 2016, the Eighth Circuit upheld a district court ruling in United States v. DeCoster that imposed three-month prison sentences and $100,000 fines on Austin “Jack” and Peter Decoster, the owner and chief operating officer, …

    • A New and Improved (Updated) List of Pending DESI Program ProceedingsJune 21st, 2016

      By Kurt R. Karst –      It’s been a little more than 4.5 years since we first revealed in a December 11, 2011 FDA Law Blog post the fruits of our hunt for the mythical list of pending proceedings under the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation …

    • Health Science Funding Case – A Lesson in How Not to Address Marketing Uncertainty Surrounding Medical FoodsJune 12th, 2016

      By Riëtte van Laack As we reported previously, in 2013, Health Science Funding, LLC (HSF) filed what might be the first medical food lawsuit against FDA.  Plaintiff markets a medical food for women with lupus, Prastera® DHEA.  Medical foods may be marketed without pre-market approval by …

    • International Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Imperiled Like Never Before: A Webinar Presented by Dechert LLP and Hyman, Phelps & McNamara PCJune 2nd, 2016

        In recent years, the level of scrutiny on foreign pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities in countries like China and India has skyrocketed—along with the demand and dependence of western countries on the supply of goods coming from those facilities. With the international pharmaceutical supply chain imperiled …