Adulterated drug or device

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Virginia Code › Title 54.1 › Subtitle III › Chapter 34 › Article 6 › Section 54.1-3461

This text was captured on Aug 14, 2026. It is a snapshot, not a live feed, so check the official code before relying on it.

Text

A. A drug or device shall be deemed to be adulterated:

1. If it consists in whole or in part of any filth, putrid or decomposed substance;

2. If it has been produced, prepared, packed, or held under insanitary conditions whereby it has been contaminated with filth, or whereby it has been rendered injurious to health;

3. If it is a drug and the methods used in, or the facilities or controls used for, its manufacture, processing, packing, or holding do not conform to or are not operated or administered in conformity with current good manufacturing practice to assure that such drug meets the requirements of this chapter;

4. If it is a drug and its container is composed, in whole or in part, of any poisonous or deleterious substance which may render the contents injurious to health;

5. If it is a drug and it bears or contains, for purposes of coloring only, a color additive which is unsafe within the meaning of the federal act or § 54.1-3460 ; or

6. It is a color additive, the intended use of which in or on drugs is for purposes of coloring only, and is unsafe within the meaning of the federal act or § 54.1-3460 .

B. A drug or device shall be deemed to be adulterated if it purports to be or is represented as a drug the name of which is recognized in an official compendium, and its strength differs from, or its quality or purity falls below, the standard set forth in such compendium. Such determination of strength, quality, or purity shall be made in accordance with the tests or methods of assay set forth in such compendium, or in the absence of or inadequacy of such tests or methods of assay, those prescribed under authority of the federal act. No drug defined in an official compendium shall be deemed to be adulterated under this subsection because it differs from the standard of strength, quality, or purity set forth in such compendium, if the difference in strength, quality, or purity from such standard is plainly stated on its label.

Whenever a drug is recognized in both the United States Pharmacopoeia National Formulary and the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States it shall be subject to the requirements of the United States Pharmacopoeia National Formulary unless it is labeled and offered for sale as a homeopathic drug, in which case it shall be subject to the provisions of the Homeopathic Pharmacopoeia of the United States and not to those of the United States Pharmacopoeia National Formulary.

C. A drug or device shall be deemed to be adulterated if it is not subject to the provisions of subsection B of this section and its strength differs from, or its purity or quality falls below, that which it purports or is represented to possess.

D. A drug or device shall be deemed to be adulterated if it is a drug and any substance has been (i) mixed or packed with it so as to reduce its quality or strength or (ii) substituted wholly or in part for it.

Code 1950, § 54-461; 1970, c. 650, § 54-524.92; 1988, c. 765.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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