Court Confirms FDA Drug Shortage Ruling was Valid
A northern Texas judge has ruled in FDA’s favor in a case challenging its decision last year to remove Eli Lilly’s weight loss and diabetes drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro from its drug shortage listing, a move that ultimately made it illegal for compounding pharmacies to produce large quantities of the drug copies to meet increased market demand.
U.S. district judge Mark Pittman’s 5/7 decision, which was filed under seal, stemmed from an October lawsuit by Outsourcing Facilities Association seeking to reverse the “resolved” drug shortage listing. The group, which has filed an appeal, argued that FDA had wrongly and exclusively relied on statements by Lilly to determine whether there was a continuing shortage, and that patients were still having trouble obtaining drug supplies.
Last month, the judge also rejected a similar argument by compounding pharmacies to keep making copies of Novo Nordisk’s diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy while a legal challenge over drug shortages is litigated.