Consumer Law

Check out this quick read on the FDA

By Kia Franklin

Not that criticism is out of order, but It seems like everyone's a critic of the FDA these days. Could the agency's recent steps to take a tougher stance on food regulation and the ushering in of a new crop of FDA leadership be markers of progress? I suppose time will tell. In the mean time there's been a good amount of constuctive dialogue about how to improve safety and regulate goods and products more effectively.

Harvard Prof Dr. Marcia Angell has high hopes for the appointment of Joshua Sharfstein, "a longtime critic of the pharmaceutical industry," as principal deputy to Obama's newly-nominated FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. She writes:

His appointment gives real hope that the FDA will stop kowtowing to the big drug companies. For too long the agency has behaved as though its job is to speed brand-name drugs to market, not to ensure that they are safe and effective. But while new leadership is crucial, more needs to be done.

Dr. Angell offers seven constructive tips for the FDA on how it can improve regulation of the drug industry. Her suggestions include ending direct-to-consumer advertising and evaluating the safety of generics just as quickly as brand-name drugs. Check it out. It's a good, quick read.

Relatedly, here's an article on the FDA and the recent pistachio recall, and here's an article on how the FDA is cracking down on misleading online drug advertisements.

Full post as published by TortDeform.com on April 07, 2009 (boomark / email).