Revised medicine law in August

Press, 20 June 1984, Page 28

Revised medicine law in August

PA Wellington Important changes to the law regarding the production and marketing of medicines will come into force on August 1. The Medicine Act, 1981, will replace parts of the Food and Drug Act and the Poisons Act. Accompanying regulations have been passed by Order-in-Council. The Health Department’s director of clinical services, Dr John Phillips, said the new law had been 12 years in the making. The department would hold seminars for people in the medicine industry in Auckland and Wellington.

He said that the main aim of the Act was to ensure the safe production and distribution of medicines and was in part consumer protection legislation. The procedures to be used to assess a new medicine before it was marketed had been revised, and a medicines review committee would be set up to hear appeals from manufacturers who had medicines rejected. Other steps included the recognition of foods, cosmetics, and toothpastes which had therapeutic claims; the licensing of premises where medicines were made; and more explicit regulations on the labelling of medicines.