American Home Shuts Generic Drug Operation

A New York pharmaceutical giant temporarily shut down its generic drug subsidiary, the company said Wednesday, and a congressional source said the move stemmed from falsified data used to win drug approval.

Carol Emerling, a spokesman for American Home Products Corp., confirmed that the company’s Quantum Pharmics Ltd. plant in Amityville, N.Y., voluntarily halted production and distribution of generic drugs.

Emerling said the shutdown was “to facilitate” investigations being conducted by the firm and the Food and Drug Administration. She offered no further explanation. Emerling said Quantum would reopen “as soon as possible,” but she said she did not know exactly when.

None of Quantum’s 21 generic drug products was recalled, Emerling said.

“Nothing has come to our attention that causes concern with regard to safety and efficacy,” she said.

The FDA is currently confronting a scandal stemming from the recent bribery convictions of three of its own officials and startling revelations of corruption within the generic industry.