Food And Drug Administration: The FDA

The FDA has come a long way since 1906, but in my opinion, I believe that the FDA should do more to protect our health and have stricter laws in place concerning our food and medicines. The FDA allows products to be on the market without prior approval; for the FDA to take action and recall a product something awful like multiple deaths have to happen for them to realize that the product is harmful. Prime example, Red #3 is food coloring that FDA permits in our food to make the food look appealing. However, studies done on animals have proven to show that Red #3 causes cancer. According to an article published in 1990 in the New York Times states that "Red Dye No. 3 still has some approved uses in foods and drugs, but the F.D.A. said it is

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is best known for its role on protecting the health of the public by making sure that food, medications are safe and effective. Especially when it comes to the pharmaceutical industry, its mission is to regulate pharmaceutical manufacturers, as well as the drug approval process. However, in the recent years, many arguments and controversy regarding drug development and regulation have risen. Drug advertisements make false and misleading claims, products are being put out on the market without any proof of safety, causing many unwanted incidents such as the Avandia incident and Vioxx incident, which could have been prevented in the first place.

The Food and Drug Administration, also known as the FDA or USFDA, is responsible for protecting and advocating public health. They are the official government agency that ensures our drug supply is safe and effective. This is achieved through the regulation and supervision of food safety, dietary supplements, veterinary products, cosmetics, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, prescription and pharmaceutical drugs that can be purchased over- the- counter.

The Food & Drug Administration became a possibility because of the Pure Food and Drugs Act of 1906. Harvey Washington Wiley was the driving force behind this law and headed its enforcement, which provided basic elements of protection that consumers had never had before (FDA's Origin). The FDA is an agency that works within the US Department of Health and Human Services of the executive branch of government (About FDA). The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for protecting the public health of all Americans by ensuring the safety, efficacy, and security of a large range of products from drugs to cosmetics (What We Do).

The FDA is and agency that falls into the Department of Health and Human Services under the Executive Branch, probably the most interesting agency in my eyes because of its importance in the nation and how a mistake from them or maybe a wrong move can be lethal. This very important agency can actually be traced back to the 1800's but bills were placed after it earlier agencies to become what it is today after protests and cries of those living in the nation around the early 1900's. (Office of the Commissioner) Its food we are talking about and food is something we insert into our body including the drugs we take. Therefore, it involves with our daily lives and with them being around it can protect us form the threats of health out there.

In 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Moxatag, a once daily extended release formulation of amoxicillin, for the treatment of streptococcal pharyngitis. The clinical study results indicated that Moxatag was as safe and effective as penicillin V, the first drug of choice for the treatment of pharyngitis (Infectious Disease Society of America, 2013). Moxatag is the only once daily medication FDA approved for the treatment of pharyngitis. The manufacturer claims that once daily dosing will improve compliance, thus improving patient outcomes. Moxatag is very expensive relative to immediate release penicillin. Price comparisons found a difference of 144 dollars between Moxatag and the next equivalent medication. There are equivalent alternative medications, although these medications have their own drawbacks, being off label, intramuscular injectable or increased doses per day. Also, on August 25, 2014 it was announced that a generic for Moxatag is being produced (Fera, 2014), which will introduce a lower cost once daily alternative. Once this medication is introduced, it may offer a better option than the current alternatives to Moxatag. For the time being, however, I believe that with good prescribing practices, these current alternatives are effective and significantly less expensive, which make Moxatag unnecessary to prescribe.

FDA stands for Food and Drug Administration, it is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring that foods are

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and received its name in 1930. Although the FDA’s roots can be traced back as far as 1862, its right as a regulatory agency came into effect under the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act. This legislation was created to eliminate misrepresentation of food and drugs in an effort to protect the health of the public. Over the years, the FDA’s role has further evolved to overseeing many areas other than just food and drugs. However, its mission has remained the same:

The Food and Drug Administration is a regulatory agency responsible for the public health of American residents. The agency is located in Silver Springs, Maryland. The current extent of FDA regulations reaches a wide variety of product groups such as electronic devices, cosmetics, foods, biologics, tobacco, medical devices, and veterinary devices (US Food & Drug Administration, 2016). The FDA is also accountable for the safety of the food supply, prescription drugs, and the manufacturing of products such as tobacco (US Food & Drug Administration, 2016). The FDA’s organization is divided into five offices: office of the commissioner, foods and veterinary medicine, medical products and tobacco, global regulatory operations and policy, and operations (FDA Organization, 2016). According to the FDA website, the President’s 2016 fiscal year FDA budget is 4.9 billion dollars (2016 FDA Budget Summary, 2016).

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved naltrexone in 1994 to assist in the treatment of alcohol dependence (Mark et. al, 2003). According to multiple studies of various sizes the medication has been proven to be highly beneficial in assisting with alcohol withdrawal and relapse (Leavitt, 2002; Rohsenow, 2004; Williams, 2005). With the approval of the FDA and the backing of many studies, why is this wonder drug not being more widely used? The following will address how naltrexone works and how it compares to other medications used in the treatment of alcohol dependence. Also included is the reasoning behind the professional hesitance in prescribing naltrexone.

The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, quality and security of human and veterinary

“The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products,

In Couzin-Frankel’s article “The Supplement Sleuth”, she talks about a man named Pieter Cohen who is trying to expose the hazards of supplements. She explains that the FDA is too limited on what they can and cannot do with supplements. They even say that the FDA says “show us the bodies” before the FDA will look at it. Our system is not the most efficient when it comes to drugs of any sorts. We need a better control over what is let into our shopping-marts, and labeling to improve our intake of medications.

The FDA's origins according to the official FDA web page “came into existence when Lewis Caleb Beck, who worked in the patent office and was hired to head up a newly created position which the original function was to carry out chemical analysis of agricultural products for the Department of Agriculture in 1848 “(About FDA). The main thought behind the creation of this agency was to provide safe guidelines and researching and testing agricultural patents before they were placed in the marketplace. As the government itself has grown and evolved, the legislature has used its power to influence the outcome of whether a drug or food product is released to the public and how quickly that process is

The USDA and the FDA have made food safety and protecting the public’s health a top priority.