FDA acts on not approved Rx narcotics

The US Senate Judiciary Committee has voted to report critical legislation to make reforms to the nation's dated patent reform system.  The 19-member panel voted 15 to four to report the bipartisan Patent  Reform Act of 2009 after debating the measure in three executive  sessions at the start of the month.

The bill was introduced in early March by Committee Chairman Patrick  Leahy (Democrat, Vermont) and former Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch  (Republican, Utah). It is the third Congress in which Senators Leahy and  Hatch have introduced patent reform legislation. Since 2005, the Senate  Judiciary Committee has held eight hearings and several executive  meetings to consider the legislation. Members of the Committee have  held dozens of meetings with stakeholders and interested parties. In  2007, the Committee reported patent reform legislation, but it stalled  on the Senate floor due to a dispute over damages provisions in the  bill. The Committee heard from stakeholders about the need for patent  reform at a public hearing on March 10.

"Patent reform is an important way that this Committee can contribute to  restoring our economic engine and supporting economic recovery," Sen  Leahy said, adding that reform is urgently needed as "we need to move  forward. Over the last couple of days we have reached agreement on  issues that had prevented the bill from moving forward."