FDA finds violations at 28 drug compounding pharmacies

The FDA has found safety violations at 28 of 29 compounding pharmacies that are supposed to be producing sterile drugs. In other news, a drug patent on OxyContin expires this week, but generic versions could take a while to produce.

Medpage Today: FDA Turns Up Heat On Compounders
FDA inspectors issued violation notices to 28 compounding pharmacies after surprise inspections -- that is, nearly every pharmacy they visited that was producing supposedly sterile drugs. According to the agency, FDA inspectors recently performed 29 inspections at compounding pharmacies in 18 states believed to be selling sterile drug products. All but one resulted in "Form 483" notices listing deviations from safe drug production standards (Gever, 4/14).

The Wall Street Journal: Generic OxyContin Pains The FDA
The first patent on OxyContin expires Tuesday, a milestone in the history of one of the most powerful and abused painkillers on the market. But it could be quite some time before generic versions of the drug are available (Martin, 4/14).