Regulatory and Washington

WHITEHOUSE STATION, N.J. — The Food and Drug Administration has accepted an application from Merck for an experimental drug for insomnia, the drug maker said Thursday.

Merck announced the the FDA's acceptance of its regulatory filing for suvorexant, which the FDA's Controlled Substances Staff will review while the agency is reviewing the application.

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration on Monday issued a warning letter to The Avalon Effect, a company based in Franklin, Tenn., for its marketing of a light therapy product that claims to cure or treat symptoms of fungal meningitis, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, concussions, Lyme disease and other diseases.

NEW YORK — Americans woke up Wednesday morning to the news that Barack Obama had won a second term as president of the United States. Some people may be happy about that, others unhappy and others neutral — but win or lose, the results of Tuesday's election affect everyone, including those in the retail pharmacy industry.

SAN FRANCISCO — A recent University of Cincinnati study suggested adolescent males are at a higher risk of reporting longtime abuse of over-the-counter drugs, compared with their female peers. 

NEW YORK — Liquor can cost $2 more at liquor stores in states where the government has a monopoly on sales than at privately owned stores, according to a new study.

Researchers at Boston University School of Public Health, the Boston Medical Center and Johns Hopkins University analyzed the prices of 74 different alcohol brands in 13 "control states" — states where the government has a monopoly on liquor sales — and at 50 private retailers in "license states." The study appeared online in the journal Addiction.

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The National Community Pharmacists Association on Wednesday commended seven U.S. Representatives for recently writing the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to urge the agency to allow independent community pharmacists to continue same-day home delivery of diabetes test supplies to certain Medicare beneficiaries. 

SILVER SPRING, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug for rheumatoid arthritis ahead of the day the agency was scheduled to decide whether or not to approve it, the agency said Tuesday.

EDGEWOOD, Md. — Nutramax Laboratories recently announced the defeat of a class action lawsuit brought against the company in a California court. In April, Nutramax was named in a class action regarding its CosaminDS Joint Health Supplement. Plaintiffs claimed the glucosamine/chondroitin supplement did not work in relieving joint pain as advertised.