A federal prescription drug directory fails to list more than 9,000 medications but catalogs tens of thousands more that are no longer on the market, according to a report Monday. The Food and Drug Administration directory is neither complete nor accurate, according to the inspector general of the Department of Health and Human Services.
The omissions and errors limit the usefulness of the directory, which is meant to help the FDA and other government agencies in handling recalls, identifying medication errors and controlling imports, the IG's report said.
The FDA said it generally agreed with the report and is working to fix the problems it identified, including by making it easier for companies to submit listing information.
Federal law requires pharmaceutical companies to list with the FDA the prescription drugs they make. As of February 2005, the FDA's National Drug Code Directory listed 123,856 prescription drug products.
However, the review found it missed about 9,200 prescription drugs, while continuing to include about 34,200 other drugs either no longer sold or listed in error.
Most of the omissions and inaccuracies are related to the failure of drug companies to comply with mandatory listing requirements, the report found. While unlisted drugs are considered"misbranded"as of August 2005, the FDA had not subjected any manufacturer to criminal or regulatory action solely because it failed to list a product, according to the report.
Labels: No Prescription, Online Pharmacy, Prescription Drugs
# posted by Network @ 5:29 PM
