Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Area doctor charged in opioid case

Indiana Gazette-22 hours ago
Agents from the attorney general's office contacted the pharmacy that filled the prescription. The pharmacy manager said Rachel Shumaker was known to have an addiction problem, and he questioned Dela Torre about his opioid prescriptions because the doctor was also treating her with Suboxone, according to Shapiro.

Registration cancelled for doping colleague's drinks

Australian Journal of Pharmacy (blog)-13 hours ago
Now, the NSW Health Care Complaints Commission has found that he was guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and not suitable to hold registration as a pharmacist. Mr Cheung had been convicted of administering a poison with the intention to injure or cause distress or pain, after he slipped drugs into a pharmacy ...

January 2, 2018 Regulatory Developments

The National Law Review-20 hours ago
On January 2, 2018 at 50 NJR 9, the Division of Consumer Affairs published notice of its proposal of amendments to its rules governing prescriptions filled for Gabapentin. The proposed amendments will require New Jersey licensed pharmacies and registered out-of-state pharmacies to electronically transmit information to ...

Costco pharmacy directors fined $20000 after admitting to $1.2 ...

Toronto Star-13 hours ago
Two Costco pharmacy directors admitted to accepting illegal payments from a drug company to get its medications stocked at the retail chain. Joseph Hanna and Lawrence Varga solicited more than $1.2 million from the generic drug maker Ranbaxy for advertising services — money that could reasonably be seen as an .

Key Questions Surround Biosimilars, Generics in Specialty Pharmacy

Specialty Pharmacy Times-21 hours ago
Interchangeability allows the product to be substituted at the pharmacy level without intervention from the prescriber. The definition of interchangeability is, “can be expected to produce the same clinical result as the reference product in any given patient and, if the biological product is administered more than once to an 

How health execs can partner with pharmacists to address opioids

ModernMedicine-10 hours ago
Pharmacists should have an active role during the procurement, prescribing, and dispensing phases of the medication use cycle—especially with opioids, says Deborah A. Pasko, PharmD, MHA, director, medication safety and quality, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP). “Pharmacists should be ...

Montana pharmacy manager accused of stealing drugs

KPAX-TV-19 hours ago
GREAT FALLS - A man has been charged in Great Falls with stealing hundreds of dollars of prescription medication. Stephen Scott Hargis is listed in court documents as the pharmacy manager and is a licensed pharmacist. Police officers responded to the Albertsons store on 10th Avenue South recently and talked with ...

Dr. Andrew R. Jarminski's License Restricted Due to Huge Fraud Case involving compounded drugs

Dr. Andrew R. Jarminski's License Restricted Due to Huge Fraud Case

OC Weekly-44 minutes ago
The original indictment specifically cast Ahmed as the ringleader, accusing him of: hiring pharmacists to produce three "compounded transdermal cream;" paying kickbacks to several physicians and chiropractors who prescribed the cream to their workers' compensation patients (to the tune of $25 million between June 15,

The Elephant in the Compounding Pharmacy – Science-Based Medicine

The Elephant in the Compounding Pharmacy – Science-Based Medicine

https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-elephant-in-the-compounding-pharmacy/
14 hours ago - Contaminated products from compounding pharmacies have harmed and even killed patients. Quality control measures are being implemented, but there is a bigger.

Fixing a crisis of confidence in drug compounding Washington Examiner · 2 hours ago

Fixing a crisis of confidence in drug compounding

Washington Examiner · 2 hours ago

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, M.D., on new steps FDA is taking to enhance transparency of clinical trial information to support innovation and scientific inquiry related to new drugs


Scientific progress and new drug innovation don’t take place in a vacuum. The exchange of information that informs decisions to undertake research, invest in new scientific endeavors, and prescribe and use certain treatments effectively are a critical part of enabling the development and dissemination of new medical technology. Transparency related to this information can play a critical role in maximizing the public health value of the resulting innovations.

As part of our efforts to enhance transparency around our drug approval decisions, we’re exploring new ways the U.S. Food and Drug Administration can continue to build on its obligation to share information about product approvals. We’re especially focused on information that can improve patient care and better inform providers about the products they prescribe. One place where we are evaluating how we can release information that may better inform scientists, providers, and patients is clinical study reports (CSRs). Continue reading...

Monday, January 15, 2018

Express Scripts 90-Day Analysis of Opioid Management Positive

Zacks.com-4 hours ago
The opioid epidemic or opioid crisis is the rapid increase in the use of prescription and non-prescription opioid drugs in the United States and Canada. Notably, opioids are a diverse class of strong painkillers, often detrimental to health. In fact, per a report by STAT, Opioids could kill more than half a million people across ...

The Opioid Crisis Is Blurring the Legal Lines Between Victim and ...

Slate Magazine-6 hours ago
Prebish has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, anxiety, depression, and PTSD—struggles that, in recent years, have been compounded and soothed by her addiction to opioids. Today, she is facing a drug-induced homicide charge and could be sentenced to as long as 40 years in prison for providing ...

Friday, January 12, 2018

RECALL: PharMEDium Products Recalled Due to Lack of ...

American Veterinarian-9 hours ago
PharMEDium has expanded a previous recall due to the lack of assurance of sterility of various products compounded at the company's Memphis, Tennessee, facility. By American Veterinarian Staff. Administration of a drug product intended to be sterile that is not sterile could result in serious or life-threatening infections.

FDA Warns BD Over Changes Made to Blood Collection Tubes in ...

Regulatory Focus-7 hours ago
FDA on Friday also announced that BD has stopped using rubber stopper material in its syringes that was found to reduce drug potency. In September 2015, FDA warned healthcare professionals against using BD's general use syringes with compoundedor repackaged drugs stored in the syringes due to the potential of ...

1st Circ. Sends 3 More Meningitis Pharmacists To Trial

1st Circ. Sends 3 More Meningitis Pharmacists To Trial

Law360-1 hour ago
Law360, Boston (January 12, 2018, 9:37 PM EST) -- The First Circuit on Friday decided federal prosecutors can move forward with charges against three former pharmacists who allegedly prescribed drugs to “Wonder Woman,” “Chester Cheeto,” “Filet O'fish” and other fake patients from a Massachusetts compounding ...

US court revives charges stemming from 2012 meningitis outbreak

US court revives charges stemming from 2012 meningitis outbreak

Reuters-6 hours ago
BOSTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Friday reversed a decision that dismissed charges against three pharmacists accused of helping fill fake prescriptions while working at a Massachusetts compounding pharmacy linked to a deadly 2012 fungal meningitis outbreak. The ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court ...

CDC Clarifies Opioid Guideline Dosage Thresholds

AAFP News-6 hours ago
On March 15, 2016, the CDC issued its final Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain -- United States, 2016.(www.cdc.gov) The guideline is specifically intended for use by primary care health professionals who are treating patients with chronic pain (i.e., pain lasting longer than three months or past the time of ...

FDA names opioids, drug competition as top 2018 policy goals

ModernHealthcare.com-7 hours ago
One of the actions the FDA plans to take to combat the epidemic will be reassessing how the agency evaluates opioid products before and after they reach the market, including consideration of the risk for misuse. On Thursday, the agency placed new restrictions on the use of opioids in children's cold and cough products.

With Trump MIA on Opioids, Here Come the Lawyers

Bloomberg-17 hours ago
He increases the budget of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration by several billion dollars, with the money earmarked for curbing opioidaddiction. The Department of Health and Human Services cracks down on excessive opioid distribution, while the Justice Department goes after opioid ..

FDA Advisers Slam Lipocine's Testosterone Pill, Raising Doubts

FDA Advisers Slam Lipocine's Testosterone Pill, Raising Doubts ...

Forbes-Jan 11, 2018
The questions raised during the advisory panel meeting on Wednesday hint at a broader trend, however—one that calls into question the future of testosterone drugs meant to treat “low T,” a disorder that was popularlized over a decade ago, when TV ads for hormone gels like AbbVie's AndroGel flooded the airwaves.

Kentucky Is First State Granted Approval For Medicaid Work Requirements by khnphilipg

FDA Takes Prudent Tact In Response To Endo Compounding Lawsuit


FDA Takes Prudent Tact In Response To Endo Compounding Lawsuit
FDA appears to be framing its policy on compounding of bulk substances by outsourcers differently to the courts than it is to Congress, one compounding attorney commented after reading the agency response to a lawsuit seeking to block FDA's interim policy on 503B compounding. However, multiple ...

Fla. Compounding Pharmacy, Execs Escape Rep's FCA Claims


Fla. Compounding Pharmacy, Execs Escape Rep's FCA Claims
Law360, Miami (January 11, 2018, 6:22 PM EST) -- A federal judge on Wednesday threw out a former sales representative's amended False Claims Act suit against a Florida compounding pharmacy and its top executives, finding her pleadings insufficient on claims outside of an accusation of overbilling ...

The FDA is committed to ensuring that we have the right policies and processes in place to fulfill our public health mission. This includes providing clear rules to medical product manufacturers about fundamental issues such as how the FDA will determine the intended use of a medical product. We heard concerns that the FDA’s final rule to amend the agency’s existing intended use regulations – put forward a year ago in January 2017 – wasn’t clear, and we’re committed to addressing this important issue. Continue reading...

Thursday, January 11, 2018

FDA acts to protect kids from serious risks of opioid ingredients contained in some prescription cough and cold products by revising labeling to limit pediatric use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it is requiring safety labeling changes to limit the use of prescription opioid cough and cold medicines containing codeine or hydrocodone in children younger than 18 years old because the serious risks of these medicines outweigh their potential benefits in this population. After safety labeling changes are made, these products will no longer be indicated for use to treat cough in any pediatric population and will be labeled for use only in adults aged 18 years and older. Labeling for the medications also is being updated with additional safety information for adult use – including an expanded Boxed Warning, the FDA’s most prominent warning ‒ notifying about the risks of misuse, abuse, addiction, overdose and death, and slowed or difficult breathing that can result from exposure to codeine or hydrocodone. Continue reading...

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

How Will the Supplement Industry Fare without Hatch?

MedPage Today-Jan 4, 2018
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the supplement industry may have to look for a new champion. Hatch, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, announced plans to retire in early 2019, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. He was one of the primary authors and "the moving force" behind the Dietary Supplement Health and ...

How Will the Supplement Industry Fare without Hatch?

MedPage Today-Jan 4, 2018
Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), the supplement industry may have to look for a new champion. Hatch, the longest serving Republican in the Senate, announced plans to retire in early 2019, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. He was one of the primary authors and "the moving force" behind the Dietary Supplement Health and ...

Russian Hackers Release Stolen Emails in New Effort to Undermine ...

New York Times-1 hour ago
A Russian cyberespionage group that has made international athletes a top target published a new set of stolen emails on Wednesday, seeking to highlight discord among global sports officials and the antidoping investigators who deconstructed Russia's systematic doping. The cyberespionage group — known as Fancy ...


Reflections on a Landmark Year for Medical Product Innovation and ...

FDA.gov (blog)-Jan 9, 2018
Among other efforts, we also took new steps to facilitate faster patient access to needed compounded medicines, while protecting the public from poorly compounded drugs. There will be additional enforcement steps in 2018. And we continue to promote work that will enable FDA to use real world data to better inform our 

High Importance!! Kirstin Green, a sales rep for a local firm that marketed compounding creams, was sentenced on Monday to serve 65 months in federal prison for wire fraud.

Local Drug Rep Gets 65-Month Federal Prison Sentence In Fraud ...

The Chattanoogan-Jan 8, 2018
He said Top Tier engaged in a scheme to defraud by deliberately marketing the topical creams to people with certain insurance companies that would pay for compounded creams, including Blue Cross Blue Shield and Tri-Care. He said if an insurance company would not reimburse a pharmacy for a compounded cream, ...

FDA aims to strengthen oversight of compounded drug manufacturing

BioPharma Dive-Jan 4, 2018
Since a deadly meningitis outbreak in 2012 that prompted new scrutiny of drug compounding, the FDA has conducted over 400 inspections of compounding pharmacies and observed problematic conditions in the "vast majority" of those visits. "The FDA's experience in monitoring pharmacy compounding has demonstrated ...

Struggle to Improve Quality of Compounded Drugs Continues

Medscape-Jan 8, 2018
Traditionally, a compounding pharmacy was a local pharmacy in which a licensed pharmacist compounded a medication for an individual patient to fill a prescription from that individual's physician. Compounding pharmacies remain important in treating patients for whom FDA-approved drugs are unavailable, such as the ...
12/21/2017Continental Manufacturing Chemist, Inc.Detroit District OfficeCGMP/Drug Products/AdulteratedNot Issued *
08/21/2017Innovita, LLCDenver District OfficeUnapproved New Drugs/MisbrandedNot Issued *
12/21/2017Continental Manufacturing Chemist, Inc.Detroit District OfficeCGMP/Drug Products/AdulteratedNot Issued 

Friday, January 5, 2018

01/03/2018AuroMedics Pharma LLC  Ampicillin and Sulbactam for Injection USP  Presence of glass particlesAuroMedics Pharma LLC

Must Read! Compounding experts do not expect FDA to let up on the gas in 2018 on implementing the Drug Quality and Security Act,

Stakeholders Expect Flurry Of Compounding Action, Hope For ...

Inside Health Policy-8 hours ago
Compounding experts do not expect FDA to let up on the gas in 2018 on implementing the Drug Quality and Security Act, but many experts hope the agency will rethink what some see as its initial missteps in implementing the compounding law, including a perceived overly lax bar for compounding bulk substances and ...

FDA aims to strengthen oversight of compounded drug manufacturing
The Food and Drug Administration aims to "reinvigorate" efforts to improve production standards for compounded drug products, highlighting continued safety concerns with the industry practice in a recent update published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Since a deadly meningitis outbreak in .

IACP announced that TherapeuticsMD will no longer be an IACP corporate member.


International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists Announcement
HOUSTON, Jan. 5, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Academy of Compounding Pharmacists (IACP), representing nearly 4,000 pharmacists, technicians, students and members of the compounding community who focus upon the specialty practice of pharmacy compounding, today announced