FDA Can Be More Aggressive With Pharmacies, Hamburg Says

U.S. regulators failed to act as aggressively as they could against compounding pharmacies like the one at the center of the deadly meningitis outbreak, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg said.

A review of past practices shows that “even in the face of litigation and continuous challenges by industry to our authorities, we can nonetheless be more aggressive in pursuing enforcement actions,” Hamburg said in written testimony presented today to a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee. “I can assure you that we are being more aggressive now.”