Department of Health and Human Services July 2014 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Department of Health and Human Services published a notice in the Federal Register, dated June 17, 2014, to announce a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Minority Health that will be held on Tuesday, July 8, 2014, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Wednesday, July 9, 2014, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The meeting is scheduled to be held at the Omni Shoreham Hotel, 2500 Calvert Street NW., Washington, DC 20008. The posted meeting times have been changed.

In the October 30, 2013 issue of the Federal Register (78 FR 65046), we published a final rule entitled, ``Program Integrity: Exchange, Premium Stabilization Programs, and Market Standards; Amendments to the HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014.'' The effective date was December 30, 2013. This correcting amendment corrects technical and typographical errors identified in the October 30, 2013 final rule.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is preparing to develop a list of bulk drug substances (active ingredients) that may be used to compound drug products in accordance with section 503B of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) concerning outsourcing facilities. In response to a notice published in the Federal Register of December 4, 2013, interested groups and individuals previously nominated a wide variety of substances for this list. However, many of those nominations were not for bulk drug substances used in compounding as active ingredients, and none included sufficient information to justify inclusion of the nominated substances on the list. To improve the efficiency of the process for developing the list of bulk drug substances that may be used to compound drug products under section 503B of the FD&C Act, FDA is providing more detailed information on what it needs to evaluate a nomination. Because the deadline for nominations has passed, FDA is reopening the nomination process so that interested persons can submit nominations of bulk drug substances and provide adequate support to justify placing the substances on the list. Bulk drug substances that were previously nominated will not be further considered unless they are renominated and adequately supported. Substances that are not adequately supported will not be placed on the list.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or the Agency) is proposing to amend its regulations to revise the list of drug products that may not be compounded under the exemptions provided by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act) because the drug products have been withdrawn or removed from the market after the drug products or components of such drug products were found to be unsafe or not effective. Specifically, the proposed rule would add 25 drug products to this list of drug products and modify the description of one drug product on this list to add an exception. These revisions are necessary because new information has come to the Agency's attention since March 8, 1999, when FDA published the original list as a final rule. FDA is also withdrawing the previous proposed rule regarding additions to this list (see the Federal Register of January 4, 2000).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is preparing to develop a list of bulk drug substances (active ingredients) that may be used to compound drug products in accordance with section 503A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the FD&C Act), although they are neither the subject of a United States Pharmacopeia (USP) or National Formulary (NF) monograph nor components of FDA-approved drugs. In response to a notice published in the Federal Register of December 4, 2013, interested groups and individuals previously nominated a wide variety of substances for this list. However, many of those nominations either were for a substance that is already the subject of a USP monograph or a component of an FDA-approved drug, were not for bulk drug substances used in compounding as active ingredients, or did not include sufficient information to justify inclusion of the nominated substance on the list. To improve the efficiency of the process for developing the list of bulk drug substances that may be used to compound drug products under section 503A, FDA is providing more detailed information on what it needs to evaluate a nomination. Because the deadline for nominations has passed, FDA is reopening the nomination process so that interested persons can submit nominations of bulk drug substances that are not the subject of a USP or NF monograph or a component of an FDA-approved drug. Interested persons will also have the opportunity to provide adequate support to justify placement of the substances on the list. Bulk drug substances that were previously nominated will not be further considered unless they are renominated and those nominations are adequately supported. Substances that are already eligible for use in compounding or that are not adequately supported will not be placed on the list.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending the animal drug regulations to reflect the withdrawal of approval of those parts of a new animal drug application (NADA) for a three-way, fixed-ratio, combination drug Type A medicated article that pertain to use of the procaine penicillin component for growth promotion indications in swine and to reflect the reformulation of the Type A medicated article as a two-way, fixed-ratio, combination drug product without penicillin.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of the Director, Office of Science Policy, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Office of the Commissioner, are announcing a public workshop titled ``The Development of New Antibacterial Products: Charting a Course for the Future.'' The workshop is being held to: (1) Examine key issues and challenges related to antibacterial product development, (2) discuss regulatory pathways for bringing new antibacterial drugs to market, (3) identify strategies for promoting clinical trials for antibacterial drugs, and (4) encourage partnerships to accelerate the development of new antibacterial drugs. The workshop is open to the public and is free of charge.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is announcing that a proposed collection of information has been submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review and clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking public comments on its draft Strategic Priorities Fiscal Year (FY) 2014-2018 document. FDA has identified these cross-cutting strategic priorities and core mission goals that will guide its efforts to achieve its public health mission. FDA is seeking public comment to help further refine these priorities and goals.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) notifies federal agencies of the laboratories and Instrumented Initial Testing Facilities (IITF) currently certified to meet the standards of the Mandatory Guidelines for Federal Workplace Drug Testing Programs (Mandatory Guidelines). The Mandatory Guidelines were first published in the Federal Register on April 11, 1988 (53 FR 11970), and subsequently revised in the Federal Register on June 9, 1994 (59 FR 29908); September 30, 1997 (62 FR 51118); April 13, 2004 (69 FR 19644); November 25, 2008 (73 FR 71858); December 10, 2008 (73 FR 75122); and on April 30, 2010 (75 FR 22809). A notice listing all currently HHS-certified laboratories and IITFs is published in the Federal Register during the first week of each month. If any laboratory or IITF certification is suspended or revoked, the laboratory or IITF will be omitted from subsequent lists until such time as it is restored to full certification under the Mandatory Guidelines. If any laboratory or IITF has withdrawn from the HHS National Laboratory Certification Program (NLCP) during the past month, it will be listed at the end and will be omitted from the monthly listing thereafter. This notice is also available on the Internet at https:// www.workplace.samhsa.gov.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is confirming the effective date of July 30, 2014, for the final rule that appeared in the Federal Register of March 17, 2014. The direct final rule amends the regulation regarding the confidentiality of data and information in and about new animal drug application files to change when certain approval-related information will be disclosed by the Agency. This change ensures that the Agency is able to update its list of approved new animal drug products within the statutory timeframe. It also permits more timely public disclosure of approval-related information, increasing the transparency of FDA decisionmaking in the approval of new animal drugs. This document confirms the effective date of the direct final rule.