The Prescription Drug Marketing Act (PDMA) of 1987 (P.L.

It establishes legal safeguards for prescription drug distribution to ensure safe and effective pharmaceuticals and is designed to discourage the sale of counterfeit, adulterated, misbranded, sub potent, and expired prescription drugs.

It was passed in response to the development of a wholesale sub-market (known as the "diversion market") for prescription drugs.

The PDMA was modified by the Prescription Drug Amendments of 1992 (P.L.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued regulations implementing the PDMA in 1990 (21 C.F.R.