The US FDA may now have a legislative mandate to wade into regulation of medical practice with its development of opioid prescribing guidelines, but Commissioner Scott Gottlieb only seems interested in the agency getting a toe wet.
Opioid Prescribing Guidelines Will Be More Template Than Commandment
Commissioner Gottlieb says US FDA does not intend to force physicians to adhere to opioid prescribing guidelines being developed by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

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The chair of a European Medicines Agency working group on reducing animal testing said that companies can provide “thoughts and suggestions” in relation to a review of its scientific guidelines on regulatory testing requirements and new approach methodologies.
The weight management drug, Mysimba, continues to demonstrate a positive benefit-risk balance but the data available are not sufficient to fully determine the cardiovascular safety beyond 12 months. Meanwhile, Currax this month announced the publication of a peer-reviewed study of Mysimba that followed patients for over 4.7 years and found no evidence of excess cardiovascular risk.
Filing in the Whole Women’s Health mifepristone case defends the FDA’s 2023 decision on the abortion pill safety program, but experts warn it does not necessarily signal the Trump Administration position in other mifepristone cases attempting to restrict medication abortion access.
The Pink Sheet drug review profile investigates the long and rigorous process behind the FDA’s recent relaxation of the cardiovascular safety warning for testosterone products.
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The US FDA has deemed certain in vitro bioequivalence studies conducted by CRO Raptim Research “not acceptable” and raised concerns over its in vivo study methods.
Sector-specific tariffs, including on pharmaceuticals, could be announced as early as this week.
Massive layoffs and the biosimilar user fee program’s historic flirtation with the non-user fee spending requirements raise concerns that the FDA could lose its ability to collect BsUFA revenue, which could mean a fine or jail time for agency staff.