I went to a talk by the new FDA Commissioner, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, this evening and came away feeling pretty good about the potential of the her administration. The focus of the talk was on "Import Safety" and she covered a number of issues in her 25 min talk. The host club, the Commonwealth Club was formed in 1903 and has been around longer than the FDA which was formed in 1906 (same year as the SF quake).
The number of shipments entering the US has more than doubled in the past decade, 75% of seafood, 40% of all drugs, and 75% of aspirin comes from outside the US.
She stated that a makeover of the FDA is needed and there are 3 main ways she hopes to accomplish this feat: (1) have better control at the point of production, (2) hold importing companies responsible for their supply chain, and (3) deploy the agencies resources strategically. She repeatedly mentioned the importance of passing the Food Safety Bill that is making its way through Congress right now and that her focus will be on changing the priority of the FDA from reaction to prevention. To help accomplish these goals, the agency needs to be able to recruit talented scientists and is hoping to see Universities encourage their students to pursue careers in regulatory sciences.
Funny comments from her: she dislikes Ethiopian food but likes most other foods and she believes in moderation and that you should "rotate your poisons" - the last 2 ideas she got from her mom!
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