Safety Kefauver-Harris

In 1962, amendments to the U.S. Federal Food, Dmg and Cosmetic Act (Kefauver-Harris amendments) promulgated regulations concerning the requirements for premarketing approval by the FDA. This legislation estabUshed requirements of proof of both safety and therapeutic efficacy and strict control of human clinical testing, for example, which have extended the time and cost to market a new dmg. Thus, whereas approximately 40 new dmgs were marketed annually from 1948 to 1962, this number had fallen to 12 by 1966. 

A minor precedent for premarket testing of chemicals in the 1938 law had been established, on a voluntary basis, shortly after the 1906 law had gone into effect, with respect to coal-tar dyes used to color foods (98). The new drugs clause of 1938, in its turn, became a more significant precedent for later laws requiring the establishment of safety before the release of pesticide chemicals (1954), food additives (1958), color additives (1960), and medical devices (1976) (99, 100). In 1962, by the Kefauver-Harris Amendments, the Congress added the requirement that proof of efficacy be demonstrated before a new drug could be released. 

The Food Drug Administration has the responsibility for the premarket clearance of all animal drugs. The 1958 food additive amendment to the Federal Food, Drug Cosmetic Act requires sponsors to demonstrate the safety of their products. The Kefauver-Harris amendment of 1962 requires the sponsors to demonstrate, in addition to safety, the efficacy of their drugs. Safety implies safety to the animal as well as to the consumers of animal products. The role of the Center for Veterinary Medicine in the premarket approval process is to establish conditions of drug use and to establish the allowable tolerances for drug residues in animal-derived food products. 

The products already on the market on 1 September 1971, the date for implementation of the Medicines Act, were given the Product Licences of Right (PLR) that were subject to a review process at a later date. This proposal for review of PLRs is reminiscent of the FDA contract with the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council (NAS/NRC) in 1966, to evaluate the effectiveness of some 4000 different drug formulations approved on the basis of safety alone between 1938 and 1962 - the year of the Kefauver-Harris Amendment. 

United States Congress passes Kefauver-Harris Dmg Amendments that shift the burden of proof of clinical safety to drug manufacturers. For the first time, drug manufacturers had to prove their products were safe and effective before they could be sold. 

Kefauver-Harris Amendments Required proof of efficacy as well as safety for new drugs and for... 

Tragedy in the United States was averted by Dr. Kelsey s efforts. Her refusal to approve the thalidomide NDA without further proof of safety occurred just as news from Europe revealed that thalidomide was responsible for a birth defect that caused infants to be born with flipper-like limbs. This near miss in the United States led to passage of the 1962 Kefauver-Harris Amendments to the 1938 act. These amendments established requirements that testing for both safety and proof of drug efficacy had to be conducted in well-controlled clinical trials before an NDA could be approved and a drug allowed to reach the market (Bren, 2001). 

The requirement that drugs be both effective and safe did not become law until 1962. The Kefauver-Harris amendment to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act passed in 1962 required the FDA to review all drugs released after 1938 for effectiveness as well as safety. This program established the Drug Efficacy Study Implementation (DESI) and the job was assigned to the National Academy of Sciences—National Research Council, which reviewed the data presented for each drug that had been submitted to the FDA. 

Kefauver-Harris Amendments to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 Required medications to demonstrate their safety and effectiveness Created the FDA drug approval process Required randomized clinical trials for medications... 

Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments passed to ensure drug efficacy and greater drug safety in response to the thalidomide birth defects disaster. 1965 Drug Abuse Control Amendments are enacted to deal with problems of abuse of depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens. 

Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments Required manufacturers to prove both effectiveness and safety for prescription drugs... 

Before Kefauver-Harris, the FDA was legally empowered to evaluate the evidence on safety of a proposed new pharmaceutical, but not the evidence on effectiveness. In practice, however, a decision to approve a drug for marketing had necessarily to involve both safety and efficacy, because the amount of risk allowable had to take into account the drug s efficacy but legally this was not acknowledged. 

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