Department of Health and Human Services August 31, 2016 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a document entitled ``Revised Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Zika Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Components; Guidance for Industry.'' The guidance document is notifying blood establishments that collect Whole Blood and blood components, that FDA has determined Zika virus (ZIKV) to be a relevant transfusion- transmitted infection (RTTI) and provides FDA's assessment. The guidance also provides recommendations to reduce the risk of transmission of ZIKV by Whole Blood and blood components. The guidance applies to the collection of Whole Blood and blood components. The guidance does not apply to the collection of Source Plasma. The guidance supersedes the February 2016 document entitled, ``Recommendations for Donor Screening, Deferral, and Product Management to Reduce the Risk of Transfusion-Transmission of Zika Virus: Guidance for Industry'' (February 2016 guidance), and the March 2016 document entitled, ``Questions and Answers Regarding `Recommendations for Donor Screening, Deferral, and Product Management to Reduce the Risk of Transfusion-Transmission of Zika Virus: Guidance for Industry' '' no later than 12 weeks after the date of the issuance of this guidance. Implementation of the guidance will be immediate for blood establishments that collect Whole Blood and blood components in States and territories with local transmission of ZIKV by mosquitos, and will be phased in over 4 to 12 weeks in other States and territories using a tiered, risk-based approach. Blood establishments should follow the recommendations in the February 2016 guidance until the recommendations in the guidance document have been fully implemented.

The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005, 42 U.S.C. 299b-21 to b-26, (Patient Safety Act) and the related Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Final Rule, 42 CFR part 3 (Patient Safety Rule), published in the Federal Register on November 21, 2008, 73 FR 70732-70814, provide for the formation of Patient Safety Organizations (PSOs), which collect, aggregate, and analyze confidential information regarding the quality and safety of health care delivery. The Patient Safety Rule authorizes AHRQ, on behalf of the Secretary of HHS, to list as a PSO an entity that attests that it meets the statutory and regulatory requirements for listing. A PSO can be ``delisted'' by the Secretary if it is found to no longer meet the requirements of the Patient Safety Act and Patient Safety Rule, when a PSO chooses to voluntarily relinquish its status as a PSO for any reason, or when a PSO's listing expires. AHRQ has accepted a notification of voluntary relinquishment from QAISys, Inc. of its status as a PSO, and has delisted the PSO accordingly. QAISys, Inc. submitted this request for voluntary relinquishment after receiving a Notice of Preliminary Finding of Deficiency.

This document corrects typographical errors in the final rule that appeared in the August 5, 2016 Federal Register entitled, ``Medicare Program; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2017''.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is amending its regulations governing drug establishment registration and drug listing. These amendments reorganize, modify, and clarify current regulations concerning who must register establishments and list human drugs, human drugs that are also biological products, and animal drugs. The final rule requires electronic submission, unless waived in certain circumstances, of registration and listing information. This rulemaking pertains to finished drug products and to active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) alone or together with one or more other ingredients. The final rule describes how and when owners or operators of establishments at which drugs are manufactured or processed must register their establishments with FDA and list the drugs they manufacture or process. In addition, the rule makes certain changes to the National Drug Code (NDC) system. We are taking this action to improve management of drug establishment registration and drug listing requirements and make these processes more efficient and effective for industry and for us. This action also supports implementation of the electronic prescribing provisions of the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) and the availability of current drug labeling information through DailyMed, a computerized repository of drug information maintained by the National Library of Medicine.