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Coronavirus: All FDA Inspections Of Chinese Manufacturing Facilities Come To Screeching Halt

In a late Friday news statement, agency head Stephen Hahn also warned of possible “shortages of critical medical products”

 
• By Shawn M. Schmitt

The US agency has suspended all routine surveillance inspections in China through the end of March because of coronavirus fears, commissioner Stephen Hahn announced late on 14 February. Despite expecting medical product shortages, Hahn said the agency is being proactive: “We are not waiting for drug and device manufacturers to report shortages to us” before acting. The timing of Hahn’s statement – at 6 p.m. EST on a Friday, at the beginning of a three-day US holiday weekend – suggests he isn’t particularly excited to share the information.

Microscopic view of Coronavirus, a pathogen that attacks the respiratory tract. Analysis and test, experimentation. Sars. 3d render

The US Food and Drug Administration has abandoned all near-term plans to inspect Chinese manufacturing facilities in the wake of the coronavirus crisis, agency commissioner Stephen Hahn said late on 14 February.

“The FDA is not currently conducting inspections in China due to the State Department warning advising against travel to China,” Hahn wrote in a statement.

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