Department of Health and Human Services August 8, 2018 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is announcing the availability of a final guidance for industry entitled ``Elemental Impurities in Drug Products.'' This guidance finalizes the draft guidance issued July 1, 2016, which provides recommendations regarding the control of elemental impurities of human drug products marketed in the United States consistent with the implementation of International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) guidance for industry entitled ``Q3D Elemental Impurities'' (ICH Q3D). This guidance will also assist manufacturers of compendial drug products in responding to the issuance of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) requirement for the control of elemental impurities.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) is withdrawing approval of four new drug applications (NDAs) from multiple applicants. The holders of the applications notified the Agency in writing that the drug products were no longer marketed and requested that the approval of the applications be withdrawn.

The Department of Health and Human Services published a document in the Federal Register of July 27, 2018, concerning the upcoming annual meeting of the President's Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition (PCSFN). The document contained an incorrect location and time.

This final rule updates the payment rates used under the prospective payment system (PPS) for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) for fiscal year (FY) 2019. This final rule also replaces the existing case-mix classification methodology, the Resource Utilization Groups, Version IV (RUG-IV) model, with a revised case-mix methodology called the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) beginning on October 1, 2019. The rule finalizes revisions to the regulation text that describes a beneficiary's SNF ``resident'' status under the consolidated billing provision and the required content of the SNF level of care certification. The rule also finalizes updates to the SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) and the Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program.