FDAnews Announces — The Debate on Off-Label Promotion: Amarin Ruling Debate-Style Webinar, Aug. 31, 2015
Falls Church, VA (PRWEB) August 13, 2015 -- The Debate on Off-Label Promotion:
Amarin Ruling
**FDAnews Debate-Style Webinar**
Aug. 31, 2015 — 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EDT
http://www.fdanews.com/debateofflabelpromo
Off-label drug promotion is one of the biggest controversies in pharmaceuticals. With cases like Amarin in the courts, and the FDA announcing a public hearing on the subject this summer, it's not far from the daily headlines.
The Aug. 7 federal court ruling on the Amarin Pharma Inc., et. al v. Food and Drug Administration et. al allows the drugmaker to make statements and disclosures to doctors regarding the use of Vascepa (icosapent ethyl) to treat patients with persistently high triglycerides, even though it lacks FDA approval for that application — as long as the communication is truthful and not misleading.
FDAnews has been thinking about how best to illustrate the different points-of-view on the subject. It was decided that a debate would be a great opportunity for both sides — in favor of a looser interpretation of rules on off-label promotion, and against — to provide all the evidence for their positions.
First Amendment Rights?
• Courts have consistently upheld that the Constitution protects commercial speech, as long as it is not false or misleading.
• It is a legally dubious overreach for the FDA to presume this speech is false until proven otherwise, and to name themselves sole arbiters of the truth.
• The traditional approval process is often a costly, cumbersome obstacle to getting timely information to doctors, and thus better — potentially life-saving — medicine to patients.
• Supposed “safe harbor” rules in guidance lack practical effectiveness, as the FDA refuses to acknowledge them as binding.
Patient Protection?
• Drug companies’ primary goal is to generate sales.
• Information on off-label use is not independently reviewed, so manufacturers have little incentive to ensure its accuracy.
• Studies show the overwhelming majority of off-label promotion lacks strong scientific evidence to support it.
• Doctors lack time or ability to verify every cherry-picked piece of data that companies send them.
• The traditional approval process exists for a good reason, and manufacturers are violating the clear intent of the laws set down by Congress.
• Common-sense exceptions for unusual situations already exist in FDA guidance.
Meet the Debaters:
Ralph F. Hall
Counsel, Faegre Baker Daniels LLP
Professor of Practice,
University of Minnesota Law School
Ralph Hall has extensive experience in the areas of FDA, health care law and corporate compliance, including the application of regulatory systems to the medical device industry. He has expertise in the design and implementation of regulatory compliance programs and with FDA enforcement actions. Mr. Hall also has experience in developing and implementing cross-disciplinary corporate legal strategies, corporate law department organization and management, and general corporate counseling.
Timothy Mackey, MAS, PhD
Director, Global Health Policy Institute
Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and
Global Public Health,
University of California San Diego
School of Medicine
Timothy Mackey is the Director of the Global Health Policy Institute and an assistant professor of anesthesiology and global public health at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine. He is also the Associate Director for the UC San Diego MAS Program in Health Policy & Law. Mr. Mackey’s work focuses on a cross-cutting array of multidisciplinary topics in domestic and global public health research, including medicine, international relations, public policy, law, technology, economics and intellectual property, technology environmental health, eHealth, crime, and global governance.
The 90-minute debate will be based on a modified presidential format.
• Questions will be posed to alternating sides (first determined by coin toss), with three minutes for one side to answer, and two minutes for the other side to give a rebuttal.
• The moderator may give each side an additional 30 seconds or ask follow-up questions.
• Each side will deliver a two-minute closing statement.
• Questions will be selected from submissions by FDAnews’ journalists — and audience members
Who Will Benefit:
• Management
• Marketing/PR
• Regulatory Affairs
• Legal
• Commercial Operations
Conference Details:
The Debate on Off-Label Promotion:
Amarin Ruling
**FDAnews Debate-Style Webinar**
Aug. 31, 2015 — 1:30 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. EDT
http://www.fdanews.com/debateofflabelpromo
Tuition:
$287 per site
Easy Ways to Register:
Online: http://www.fdanews.com/debateofflabelpromo
By phone: 888-838-5578 or 703-538-7600
About FDAnews:
FDAnews is the premier provider of domestic and international regulatory, legislative, and business news and information for executives in industries regulated by the US FDA and the European Medicines Agency. Pharmaceutical and medical device professionals rely on FDAnews' print and electronic newsletters, books and conferences to stay in compliance with international standards and the FDA's complex and ever-changing regulations.
Michelle Butler, FDANEWS, http://www.fdanews.com, +1 (703) 538-7665, [email protected]
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