Seeking to improve the transparency and consistency of the Drug Enforcement Administration's drug review, the House passed the Improving Regulatory Transparency for New Medical Therapies Act, H.R. 639. If enacted, the legislation would stop the inexplicable scheduling delays at the DEA by setting a 90-day deadline for the agency to issue an interim final rule scheduling a new drug or biologic that contains a controlled substance. The clock starts ticking when the drug is approved or the DEA receives the FDA's scheduling recommendation, whichever comes later.

Sandoz Inc. will pay $12.64 million to resolve allegations that it misrepresented its drug pricing data for the Medicare Part B program. Under the settlement, Sandoz certified that it has established a government pricing compliance program, but it admitted no liability or wrongdoing. The settlement is the largest ever entered into under the HHS Office of Inspector General's (OIG) civil monetary penalty authority, OIG said.