Regulatory and Washington

BEDMINSTER, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration will decide in late August whether to approve an experimental opioid painkiller made by QRxPharma, the drug maker said Thursday.

Australia-based QRxPharma is seeking approval for Moxduo (morphine and oxycodone), and the FDA plans to decide whether to approve the drug on Aug. 26.

NEW YORK — The director of the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Generic Drugs is stepping down, according to published reports.

Pharmalot, a blog run by journalist Ed Silverman, reported that Greg Geba is leaving the office over differences resulting from a recent reorganization, effective Friday.

BETHESDA, Md. — The improvement in cardiovascular health that results from quitting smoking far outweighs the limited risks to cardiovascular health from the modest amount of weight gained after quitting, according to a National Institutes of Health-funded community study released Wednesday. 

NEW YORK — Bills introduced in Oregon's state legislature would allow employers and other health plan sponsors to have greater knowledge about how pharmacy benefit managers determine the rates at which they pay pharmacies for dispensing generic drugs; establish new standards for pharmacy audits while requiring PBMs to register in the state and be licensed by the state board of pharmacy; and prevent health plans from requiring residents of the state to use mail-order pharmacies.

WASHINGTON — Retail sales for the month of February rose by 1.1% seasonally adjusted month to month, according to figures released Wednesday by the Department of Commerce.

The newly released figures include nongeneral merchandise categories, such as automobiles, gas stations and restaurants; excluding those, sales rose 0.7%, while rising 0.5% unadjusted year over year. The National Retail Federation noted that sales beat estimates as consumers adapted and adjusted spending in response to higher gas prices and the payroll tax increase.

LOS ANGELES — Actress Meryl Streep will encourage people to get screened for colorectal cancer in a new series of public service announcements from the Entertainment Industry Foundation's National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the groups said Wednesday.

WASHINGTON — The former president of Bayer HealthCare's Worldwide Consumer Care Division has won a lifetime-achievement award from a trade group focused on the OTC industry.

The Consumer Healthcare Products Association announced that it gave its Ivan D. Combe Lifetime Achievement Award to Gary Balkema at its annual executive conference in Naples, Fla.

NAPLES, Fla. — The Consumer Healthcare Products Association's Annual Executive Conference was sold out for the first time since 2001, CHPA president and CEO Scott Melville told a packed morning session, and that is a strong prognosticator as to the health and vitality of the self-care industry.