What is the FDA and what does it do?
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the government agency responsible for monitoring and regulating safety standards for most types of foods, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and cosmetics. Created in 1927, the FDA was originally formed from a reorganization of the Bureau of Chemistry. Over the years, the FDA has lost and gained regulatory powers of our country’s products. The Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 marked a changing point for the agency, as they gained regulatory powers over a vast array of products. There have been many amendments to the FDC Act over the years, allowing the agency to develop better methods to regulate our products and to lessen the time it takes to “approve” a product.
The FDA has two major responsibilities:
- 1. Examine newly developed food, medical, and cosmetic products for health and safety risks. This includes approving safe products and rejecting products that do not meet the country’s safety standards.
- 2. Order recalls for products that have been released into the market, but that are not safe for consumer use.
Although the Food and Drug Administration works to protect American citizens from harmful products, it has been surrounded by controversy for many years. Certain groups have accused the FDA of driving up prices for medications by being too slow to approve important drugs. They claim that the FDA harms patients in need due to their slowness. Others believe the FDA to be influenced by large corporations. The suggested alliance between the FDA and these corporations supposedly causes the FDA to turn a blind eye to some of the products produced by certain corporations.
Most recently, a proposal to ban lawsuits over FDA-approved products has been brought before Congress. If approved, the measure would prohibit states or consumers from suing companies for problems with their products, as long as the product has already gained FDA approval. This doctrine, known as preemption, is highly controversial since it would allow the FDA to have the final say on what is and is not safe, despite possible consumer injuries.
To learn more about the FDA and the dangerous injuries associated with recalled products, contact a Green Bay personal injury lawyer by calling Habush Habush & Rottier S.C. ® at 1-800-757-8644 today.
