FDA Lawyers Blog

On October 5, FDA sent a warning letter to Avon Products, Inc. ("Avon") concerning the cosmetic company's online promotion of its anti-aging skin care products. The letter, which FDA posted last week, objects to Avon's marketing claims for a variety of its anti-wrinkle products. Specifically, it warns that they "appear to be intended for uses that cause these products to be drugs under section 201(g)(1)(C) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act ['FD&C Act']."

The cited statutory provision (21 U.S.C. § 321(g)(1).) defines "drug" to include "articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals." FDA asserts that Avon's marketing claims indicate that the creams and serums listed in the letter are intended to affect the structure of human skin tissue, in which case they would fall under that definition. For example, the company's website describes that the Anew Clinical Advanced Wrinkle Corrector as "formulated to boost shock-absorbing proteins to help strengthen skin's support layers," and "start rebuilding collagen in just 48 hours." While it is not out of the ordinary for anti-wrinkle products to claim to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, FDA believes that Avon's statements go too far. According to the letter, the products are "not generally recognized among qualified experts as safe and effective for the above referenced uses" and are thus new drugs, requiring marketing approval.

Congress has prohibited the introduction of new drugs into interstate commerce without filing, and subsequent approval of, a new drug application ("NDA") as stated in 21 U.S.C. § 355(a). A new drug application ("NDA") must include, among other things, "full reports of investigations which have been made to show whether or not such drug is safe for use and whether such drug is effective in use." Id. at § 355(b)(1). Other requirements address labeling information and manufacturing controls. Id. The warning letter asks Avon to review its website and product labels and requests a response within 15 days of receipt (October 20) detailing the steps the company has taken to correct the alleged violations. At least some of the accused descriptions still seem to remain on Avon's website.

A research letter published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association ("JAMA") last Tuesday reports findings that pharmaceutical advertisements have a tendency to minimize potential adverse effects when the products they promote become available over-the-counter ("OTC"). The researchers attribute this shift in content to the differences in prescription drug advertising standards, governed by FDA, and those for OTC advertising, governed by the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC"). FDA requires that ads present a "fair balance" of the risks and benefits of a drug, a requirement that is absent from FTC's "reasonable consumer" standard. Commentators note that the FDA regulations are better equipped to ensure against "active deception."

The research endeavor, sponsored by CVS Caremark, considered four drugs that transitioned from prescription to OTC status within the last ten years: Claritin® (loratidine), Prilosec® (omeprazole), Xenical®/Alli® (orlistat), and Zyrtec® (cetirizine). It examined 133 total television and print advertising materials from twenty-four months prior to, through six months after, each transition, and found that the percentage of advertisements that referenced side effects plummeted from 70% while prescription only to 11% once available OTC. Conversely, the proportion describing drug benefits jumped from 83% to 97%. The study further reports that OTC advertisements frequently omit the generic names of drugs, "a powerful tool for the patient as a consumer in that it helps tie together scientific information on the drug from different places." Roughly 50% of the OTC ads mentioned the generic name, while over 95% had when the drugs were available by prescription only.

"In many, many cases information about risks simply disappeared from the ads once the drugs became [OTC]," remarked head researcher Dr. Jeremy Greene. This likely contributes to erroneous consumer beliefs that relocation out from behind the pharmacy counter automatically indicates a safer product. With 106 ingredients, indications, or dosage strengths having made the Rx-to-OTC switch since 1976, it is unlikely that this is always the case. Greene highlighted the danger of this situation given the frequency of overdoses on some of the most commonly used OTC drugs, such as acetaminophen (Tylenol®) and ibuprofen (Advil®). A 2006 study, for example, estimated over 450 acetaminophen overdose-related fatalities each year.

This research raises the question of where consumers can turn to obtain important information on potential side effects, if they are not receiving it from product ads or prescribers/suppliers. While some information is available online (such as at otcsafety.org or webmd.com), tracking it down requires active effort. Consumer Healthcare Products Association (CHPA) policy does note that the OTC label "is the most important element of a nonprescription drug," and "clearly lists a product's active ingredient, purpose, uses, warnings, directions, other information, and inactive ingredients." In an age dominated by electronic media, however, consumers are inevitably paying more attention to television and online/print advertising than drug labels. Also of note is that current OTC labeling requirements were promulgated by FDA, not FTC.

The Caremark study findings indicate that reform may be necessary to ensure transparency of consumer risks in the OTC pharmaceutical market, whether it be FDA oversight of OTC drugs or FTC adoption of stricter advertising criterion. With 240 million Americans currently using OTC medicines, according to a January 2012 CHPA report, it is a matter that deserves serious consideration.

On May 11, FDA reportedly told attendees of the Consumer Healthcare Product Association's Regulatory & Scientific Conference in Washington, D.C. to be patient while FDA implements its "new paradigm" for prescription to over-the-counter ("Rx-to-OTC") switch applications (The Tan Sheet (May 21, 2012). Andrea Leonard-Segal, M.D., Director, Division of Nonprescription Clinical Evaluation, Office of Nonprescription Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said that FDA's anticipated, revised Rx-to-OTC regulations will allow for expanded conditions of safe nonprescription use.

Leonard-Segal acknowledged, however, that the process will take time, warning "if you submit [a new drug application] where we don't have the regulations to support the switch, if you're ahead of your time compared to the regulations, then I think the project won't go where you want it to go." While waiting for FDA to final the regulations, Leonard-Segal suggested that firms make business decisions about initiating switch programs that employ new diagnostic technologies and other measures, according to their internal estimate project timelines. Leonard-Segal, however, sympathized with sponsors that had failed to meet FDA's current, less flexible regulations that only permit OTC conversions where the Drug Facts label has full comprehension. An example of failed Rx-to-OTC switches cited was statins to lower cholesterol, but other categories of products that may benefit from the new regulations are sleep aids and triptans to treat migraines.

Written by Brian Malkin

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Commenting further, Leonard-Segal said at the Conference: "One of the frustrations of being in the switch business . . . has been watching the regulations interfere with, what in my perspective have been some very interesting and very innovative ideas, but that just can't move forward because the regulations don't allow us to go there." Leonard-Segal further noted that a priority for the new regulations will be to consider how diagnostic devices could work together with OTC drugs, which is currently a complex approval process involving multiple centers and considerations.

by Kyle Deighan

FDA is currently exploring the possibility of allowing additional drugs for common health conditions to be sold over-the-counter ("OTC") without a prescription. FDA held public hearings last week to gather input from various groups on the issue, including consumers, pharmacists, and health care community members. Janet Woodcock, M.D., Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research ("CDER"), explained, "What we are asking is, should there be more flexibility in the concept of nonprescription drugs? Can we broaden the assistance a consumer gets and increase the types of medicines that might be available over-the-counter?" Drugs that may soon be available OTC without a prescription include cholesterol, asthma, migraine and blood-pressure medications.

FDA may require special conditions to apply before a drug may be sold OTC. These could include requiring patients to speak with a pharmacist before obtaining a medication or undergoing some form of diagnostic test. Or patients may be required to first see a physician to obtain a prescription, but then could obtain refills without needing subsequent prescriptions. FDA has also discussed the use of kiosks in pharmacies or questionnaires on the Internet to help consumers determine whether or not to take a certain drug. Woodcock noted that "the rules for nonprescription status were established in an age when widespread access to information technology did not exist. The world is evolving. It is clear there are now many interactive mechanisms that can help consumers through the process of self-diagnosis and medication selection in a much more comprehensive manner than a few worlds on a fact box."

Supporters argue that making more drugs available OTC would give patients the access they need to necessary medications. According to FDA, the time and cost required to visit a doctor, obtain a prescription, and then fill that prescription may deter patients from ever obtaining medications. An estimated 20 percent of patients with prescriptions do not even bother getting them filled, for example. Proponents argue that more OTC offerings would provide these patients with easier access to necessary drugs. Other benefits highlighted by FDA include "an increase in the appropriate use of medication, decreases in health costs, greater access to health screening ... and better, more consistent treatment of common conditions."