Good Distribution Practices News

The German Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has submitted questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) on the permissibility of selling pharmaceuticals via Amazon. Specifically, the issue is whether a pharmacist who sells pharmaceuticals on an Internet sales platform is in breach of the data protection provisions applicable to health data. In addition to the data protection aspects (DSGVO), the two underlying legal disputes also concern provisions of the German Medicines Act (AMG), the German Drug Advertising Act (HWG), the Pharmacy Operations Regulation (ApBetrO) and the Professional Code of Conduct for Pharmacists.

A federal court has entered a consent decree of permanent injunction against a Florida-based drug importer and distributor. It prohibits the company from distributing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) not manufactured, processed, or held in compliance with the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act). This was preceded by a legal dispute with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Is it acceptable that storage conditions are not monitored for medicinal products which do not have any predefined storage conditions on the outer packaging? This is one of three new questions answered by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on its website. The other two questions relate to the activities of brokers with parties outside the EEA.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has published a Warning Letter to a drug repackaging and relabeling facility located in Pennsylvania. The document summarizes significant deviations from current Good Manufacturing Practice (CGMP) for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs). It also addresses Good Distribution Practice (GDP) aspects.

If the outcome of an inspection is that the wholesale distributor does not comply with Good Distribution Practice (GDP), a statement of non-compliance may be entered into EudraGMDP. We have prepared an overview of the GDP Non-Compliance Reports published in 2022 and the respective reasons for issuing these reports.

Any change from design or predefined processes requires risk assessment and potential impact evaluation for both the transport process and, consequently, the product. This article discusses the importance of having a structured, compliant Change Control (CC) process in place for medicinal product manufacturers as well as for their qualified logistics vendors.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Warning Letters to Amazon and Walmart. Laboratory analyses showed that both companies sold products that contained diclofenac, which was not listed on the product labels. The FDA sees this as a potential health risk for consumers.