Court fast-track FDA's WLF appeal

Medical Marketing and Media, Nov 1999 by Dickinson, James G

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has granted an FDA request to expedite the agency's appeal of a federal judge's ruling in the Washington Legal Foundation case. Judge Royce Lamberth had ruled that some of the agency's policies and some FDA Modernization Act provisions violate the First Amendment by restricting manufacturers' dissemination of off-label use information about their products.

Under the schedule proposed by the FDA and accepted by the appeals court, the agency must have filed its appeal brief by October 8 and WLF must respond by November 8. Oral arguments are to be held as soon as practicable. The WLF had opposed the motion for an expedited schedule.