Regulatory and Washington

MOUNT PROSPECT, Ill. — Amid various strategies adopted to stop the proliferation of rogue online pharmacies, one group has proposed controlling what they can put at the end of their Web addresses.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — Two Dallas-based compounding pharmacies announced a recall of sterile drug products made at their facilities due to production conditions that could lead to contamination.

The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that ApotheCure had recalled all sterile drug products made at its pharmacy, while NuVision Pharmacy had recalled sterile freeze-dried or lyophilized drug products made at its facility. Both recalls were described as voluntary.

NEW YORK — Purdue Pharma's patent for OxyContin expired Tuesday, opening up the opioid painkiller to generic competition, but authorities have raised concerns about what they call the potential for generic versions to be abused.

WASHINGTON — Generic makers heralded the fiscal year 2014 budget proposed last week by the Obama administration for its embrace of generic drugs, but were critical of its provisions on patent settlements and rebates.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The governor of North Dakota has signed into law a bill that would require pharmacy benefit managers to inform pharmacies about how reimbursement for generic prescription drugs is calculated under maximum allowable cost benchmarks and provide a more detailed appeals process to pharmacies to contest the MAC reimbursement caps that PBMs set up.

The bill, H.B. 1363, received unanimous support in both houses of the state's legislature, and Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed it into law Monday.

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. — Vitamin D significantly reduces women's risks of developing uterine fibroids, according to a new study.

SAN DIEGO — The Food and Drug Administration is granting an expedited application process to a company that has developed a treatment for a condition related to Parkinson's disease, meaning that it can cancel a planned late-stage clinical trial, the company said.

WASHINGTON — Healthcare accrediting organization URAC is calling for public comment on a new set of standards it has issued for accountable care, the group said.