emergency use authorization

noun

variants or less commonly Emergency Use Authorization

plural emergency use authorizations also Emergency Use Authorizations

: an authorization granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during a public health emergency that allows for the use of a drug or other medical product prior to its full approval

Under section 564 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), when the Secretary of HHS declares that an emergency use authorization is appropriate, FDA may authorize unapproved medical products or unapproved uses of approved medical products to be used in an emergency …

—fda.gov

Especially during a shortage, much of the red tape needs to be cut away, much as formal review processes for new vaccines and drugs gave way to Emergency Use Authorizations during the pandemic.

—Marc Siegel

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday granted emergency use authorization for the Pfizer booster for this age group …

—Aidin Vaziri

called also EUA

Examples of emergency use authorization in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Kennedy may wish to also abandon emergency use authorizations that were used during COVID to fast-track people’s access to vaccines. —Joshua P. Cohen, Forbes, 4 Dec. 2024

The spotlight could fall especially hard on vaccines, based on Kennedy's criticisms of the federal pandemic response, his calls to revoke emergency use authorizations for COVID shots and his advocacy of hydroxychloroquine and ivermectin, both of which were found ineffective for treating the virus. —Adriel Bettelheim, Axios, 26 Nov. 2024

One of the lawsuits (dismissed by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals) alleged that the Food and Drug Administration’s issuance of emergency use authorizations for Covid vaccines recommended to children violated parents’ rights. —Brandy Zadrozny, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024

All the patients who have been treated with phage therapy in the US outside of clinical trials have been treated under an FDA emergency use authorization as Patterson was. —Jess Craig, Vox, 1 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

2003, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

emergency use authorization

noun

variants also Emergency Use Authorization

: an authorization granted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration during a public health emergency that allows for the use of a drug or medical product prior to its full approval

During the 2009 influenza A (H1N1) pandemic, the Food and Drug Administration granted emergency use authorization of IV neuraminidase inhibitors for hospitalized patients with influenza, creating a need for rapid decision analyses to help guide use.

—Bruce Y. Lee et al., The American Journal of Managed Care

Based on these initial findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued an Emergency Use Authorization for the emergency use of remdesivir for the treatment of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

—Richard T. Eastman et al., American Chemical Society Central Science

called also EUA