Monday, October 17, 2011

DDMAC Renamed OPDP

DDMAC is no more. Poof! Gone. Just like that. Well....not really. The division of the FDA still exists, it just has a new name and acronym.

Now called The Office of Prescription Drug Promotion (OPDP), the regulatory body maintains DDMAC mission "To protect the public health by assuring prescription drug information is truthful, balanced and accurately communicated. This is accomplished through a comprehensive surveillance, enforcement and education program, and by fostering better communication of labeling and promotional information to both healthcare professionals and consumers."

The name change has been kept fairly under the radar; no FDA press release to explain the change could find on www.fda.gov. In fact, I only realized the change because I'm subscribed to receive updates from DDMAC and received an email titled "OPDP (Formally DDMAC) Update"

The only insight I offer into the name change, it that the new name aptly describes what this division of the FDA does to the general public. It may also be a move by the FDA to clearly separate medical device and over-the-counter medicines. But without any sort of press release or statement about the change, we're likely to keep guessing as to its purpose and meaning.

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