Revision as of 15:45, 29 March 2011

For over a century, federal legislation has been impacting the practice of pharmacy. In almost every case, the purpose of this legislation has been to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the patient from the potential risks of drug use or misuse.

Most of this federal legislation has been initiated in response to issues and concerns at a certain point in time. For example, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic (FDC) Act passed by Congress was done as a safety concern because of the deaths of over 100 individuals who consumed a drug product containing antifreeze. Other acts that followed also were the result of significant issues with national implications.

While defining pharmacy practice and regulating the profession has primarily been left to the individual states based on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, the federal government regulates drug distribution through the Interstate Commerce Clause. This regulation of drug distribution often results, either directly or indirectly, in the regulation of the profession of pharmacy as well. The federal government also has implemented legislation affecting pharmacy practice based on participation in such programs as Medicaid. The counseling provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act, while not directly requiring pharmacist actions, did require the individual state governments to establish expanded standards of practice or risk losing federal funding of their programs. In effect, a back door approach to regulating the profession was utilized.

Over the years, much of the federal legislation that has been passed by Congress has proven itself useful by providing the safety and security that our society has come to expect. Pharmacists have embraced this legislation, albeit sometimes reluctantly, as most legislation has imposed new requirements in such areas as record keeping, counseling, and packaging of pharmaceuticals.

Creating a federal law

This is the legislative process as established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal administration in 1935.

Under our current systems we have two major routes in which federal legislation may become law:

1. The U.S. Congress (House of Representatives and the Senate) passes a law stating objectives to met, or
2. a federal agency decides to create or modify a regulation to meet a new situation.

Advanced notice of proposed rule making and/or the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register (FR). The Federal Register is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains most routine publications and public notices of government agencies. It is a daily publication excluding holidays.

After public viewing and discussion, any modifications to the rules are also published in the FR, and eventually the final rule will be published in the FR. Once a rule is made official it gets codified into the next edition of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). While new regulations are continually becoming effective, the printed volumes of the CFR are only issued annually.

Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906

President Theodore Roosevelt signed the Pure Food and Drug Act after it was passed by Congress on June 30, 1906.

The original Pure Food and Drug Act (also known as the Wiley Act) was passed by Congress on June 30, 1906 and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt. It prohibited interstate commerce in misbranded and adulterated foods, drinks and drugs under penalty of seizure of the questionable products and/or prosecution of the responsible parties.

To define a couple of terms, to misbrand something means to brand or label misleadingly or fraudulently; while, adulterated means to make impure by adding improper or inferior ingredients.

The Meat Inspection Act was also passed the same day.

Shocking disclosures of insanitary conditions in meat-packing plants, the use of poisonous preservatives and dyes in foods, and cure-all claims for worthless and dangerous patent medicines were the major problems (brought to the public's attention via journalists known as muckrakers) leading to the enactment of these laws. Two of the most famous muckrakers were a journalist named Samuel Hopkins Adams (whom wrote a series of eleven articles for Collier's Weekly, called “The Great American Fraud”) and an author and social activist named Upton Sinclair (whom wrote “The Jungle”)

The following are some important court cases involving the Pure Food and Drug Act:

• In 1911, the U.S. v. Johnson, the Supreme Court ruled that the 1906 Food and Drugs Act does not prohibit false therapeutic claims but only false and misleading statements about the ingredients or identity of a drug.
• In 1912, in reaction to the U.S. v. Johnson verdict, Congress enacted the Shirley Amendment to over come the ruling in U.S. v. Johnson. It prohibited labeling medicines with false therapeutic claims intended to defraud the purchaser, a standard difficult to prove.
• In 1924 in U.S. v. 95 Barrels Alleged Apple Cider Vinegar, the Supreme Court ruled that the Food and Drugs Act condemns every statement, design, or device on a product's label that may mislead or deceive, even if technically true. This case helped to verify the Pure Food and Drug Act's enforceability for dealing with misbranded and adulterated products.

This Act is often considered the beginning of the FDA.

Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914

Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938

Durham-Humphrey Amendment of 1951

Kefauver-Harris Amendment of 1962

Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970

Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970

Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970

Medical Device Amendments of 1976

Federal Antitampering Act of 1983

Orphan Drug Act of 1983

Drug Price Competition and Patent-Term Restoration Act of 1984

Prescription Drug Marketing Act of 1987

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987

Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1990

Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994

Uruguay Round Agreements Act of 1994

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996

Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997

2002 Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act

Medicare Modernization Act of 2003

Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act of 2005

Medicaid Tamper-Resistant Prescription Law of 2007

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010