Drug products containing active ingredients offered over-the-counter (OTC) for use for ingrown toenail relief.
21 C.F.R. § 310.538
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) Any product that bears labeling claims such as for “temporary relief of discomfort from ingrown toenails,” or “ingrown toenail relief product,” or “ingrown toenail reliever,” or similar claims is considered an ingrown toenail relief drug product. Benzocaine, chlorobutanol, chloroxylenol, dibucaine, tannic acid, and urea have been present as ingredients in such products. There is lack of adequate data to establish general recognition of the safety and effectiveness of these or any other ingredients for OTC use for ingrown toenail relief. Based on evidence currently available, any OTC drug product containing ingredients offered for use for ingrown toenail relief cannot be generally recognized as safe and effective.
(b) Any OTC drug product that is labeled, represented, or promoted for ingrown toenail relief is regarded as a new drug within the meaning of section 201(p) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (the act), for which an approved application or abbreviated application under section 505 of the act and part 314 of this chapter is required for marketing. In the absence of an approved new drug application or abbreviated new drug application, such product is also misbranded under section 502 of the act.
(c) Clinical investigations designed to obtain evidence that any drug product labeled, represented, or promoted for OTC use for ingrown toenail relief is safe and effective for the purpose intended must comply with the requirements and procedures governing the use of investigational new drugs set forth in part 312 of this chapter.
(d) After March 9, 1994, any such OTC drug product initially introduced or initially delivered for introduction into interstate commerce that is not in compliance with this section is subject to regulatory action.
(e) This section does not apply to sodium sulfide labeled, represented, or promoted for OTC topical use for ingrown toenail relief in accordance with part 358, subpart D of this chapter, after June 6, 2003.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-21.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026