Legislative Notes: The FDA’s Over-the Counter Drug Review: Expeditious Enforcement by Rulemaking

This article attempts to show that the OTC drug review has distinct advantages over traditional drug regulation. Part I outlines briefly the traditional case-by-case approach to drug licensing and describes FDA enforcement efforts prior to the OTC drug review. Part II sets forth the new rulemaking approach and considers the use of advisory panels. Part III examines several procedural questions associated with the review and concludes that the use of monographs as regulatory standards will afford the FDA an expeditious enforcement mechanism by resolving complex scientific issues at the administrative rather than the judicial level. Judicial review should be available, however, to ensure the reasonableness of the monographs, especially where a final monograph does not incorporate panel recommendations.