What does CAPA stand for in GLP contexts?

• A. Consolidated Audit and Protocol Analysis.
• B. Corrective and Preventive Actions; used to address deviations and drive improvements.
• C. Control and Planning Assessment.
• D. Compliance and Process Adherence.

Answer: (B)

CAPA in GLP contexts stands for Corrective and Preventive Actions. It’s the structured process used to address deviations and drive improvements within a quality system. When a deviation or out-of-spec result occurs, the CAPA process starts with documenting the issue and performing root-cause analysis to understand why it happened. Corrective actions fix the immediate problem and prevent it from continuing or affecting data integrity, while preventive actions aim to remove underlying causes so the issue is unlikely to recur. This is followed by verifying the effectiveness of the actions to ensure the problem won't reappear, and then closing the CAPA with documentation. For example, if instrument drift leads to questionable results, you would service or recalibrate the instrument (corrective action), update calibration frequency or SOPs to prevent future drift (preventive action), and monitor subsequent results to confirm stability. The other options describe terms that aren’t the recognized GLP acronym CAPA and don’t capture the formal process of addressing deviations with both correction and prevention.