Resources

According to the New York Times, FDA collected more than 75,000 employee e-mails in an effort to identify leaks of confidential trade secret information. At some point, a narrow, possibly legitimate inquiry into a handful of scientists at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) turned into a massive e-mail surveillance of selected individuals and […]

So much is going on at FDA right now, that it is difficult to pick just one topic for this week’s FDA Matters. Instead, we are going to take a quick tour of some “hot spots” at FDA and how they might affect the agency over the remainder of the year and beyond. Please read on…there […]

Given that the size of the pharmaceutical industry at times overshadows the medical device market, it is no surprise that companies that are just getting started in device development sometimes need clarification about the regulatory implications and practical differences between pharma clinical trials and medical device clinical trials. We’ve put together a basic primer to […]

It stands to reason that pharmaceutical companies in compliance trouble also have problems with their Deviation Management and Corrective and Preventive Action (CAPA) System(s). After all, to maintain a good compliance profile, as well as an efficient operation, requires the ability to detect problems, determine the root cause and permanently eliminate the problems. Good companies […]

The high layoff numbers in the pharmaceutical industry and poor job prospects in a weak economy have flooded the market with would-be consultants to pharma companies that need extra help. Here are my suggestions for hiring and working with a good GMP consultant. 1. Define the scope of work before you start scouting for a […]

Congress is to be congratulated on its progress toward passage of user fee reauthorization legislation. House and Senate-passed versions are being reconciled by staff, with a few fairly tough issues yet to be resolved. There is no apparent barrier to a final piece of legislation later this month or during July. One of the big […]

The U.S. Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (also known as ObamaCare) no later than early July. One of the possible results is nullification of the entire Act, althoughFDA Mattersthinks this is the least likely outcome. Nonetheless, the U.S. biosimilars law—passed as a separate section of ACA—could be […]

In honor ofFDA Matters’ third anniversary, I am sharing a personal story. It reflects FDA’s history as a struggle of competing interests—where sometimes reasonable people disagree, often vehemently, while at other times it is obvious that indifference or greed are the driving forces. Both are a fact of everyday life at FDA and in the […]

FDA is in the midst of its quinquennial* (five year) review from Congress as part of the user fee reauthorization cycle. Lots of proposals are on the table and FDA Matters agrees with some and disagrees with others. So far though, there doesn’t seem to be anything that would pull FDA apart or create an agency that […]

OMB, White House staff, and the Secretary of HHS review many FDA decisions and their oversight sometimes alters FDA’s positions. This waschronicledin a recent NY Times article and generated a number of editorial comments criticizing anyone tampering with FDA’s integrity. However, the individuals named in the article have the authority (on behalf of the President) […]