Food and Drug Administration

Introduction

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a regulatory agency of the U.S. government. It is housed in the Department of Health and Human Services. Its mission is to protect the health of the public by regulating human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, cosmetics, products that emit radiation, and the nation's food supply. It also promotes public health by encouraging the development of innovation in medicine and food science and technology. The FDA was formed in 1906 as what was in essence a consumer protection agency by the Pure Food and Drugs Act. The act outlawed shipping in interstate commerce adulterated or mislabeled drinks, foods, or drugs. In the case of drugs, the claims of many patent medicine sellers that their medicine was a cure-all were false—the “medicines” were worthless or dangerous. Many contained narcotics that simply numbed consumers.

Discussion and Analysis

The responsibilities of FDA is to monitor the safety of dietary supplements on the market response to adverse developments in the market, dietary supplements, as well as control information, such as labeling. The Federal Trade Commission regulates advertising of dietary supplements.

Agency (FDA) does not hold ipytaniya dietary supplements before they are sold to consumers. The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring that the label and ingredient list are accurate and truthful, that the dietary ingredients are safe and that the contents correspond to the numbers indicated on the label. FDA does not have the resources to analyze dietary supplements sent to the agency by consumers who want to know their contents. Consumers, in this case should contact the manufacturer or a commercial laboratory for the analysis of dietary supplements. As already stated above, the registration of dietary supplements are not needed, except with new ingredients (Daemmrich and Radin, 20 - 30).

Recently, during a debate on reforming the health care system, the pharmaceutical industry has been subjected to quite severe criticism. While pharmaceuticals account for only 8% of total expenditure on health care, pharmaceutical companies are one of the largest suppliers of health products. Official reports indicate that in the 1980s, drug prices have risen faster than most other prices in health care, and the recent introduction of new products at prices that seem extremely high, in accordance with historical standards, has attracted more attention to prices and profits in the this industry. Despite the growth of health maintenance organizations (HMOs) and other is full of ambient health plans to offset the costs the patient, the cost of drugs in the outpatient setting is one of the major expenses that are paid directly to the patient. Although not that pharmaceuticals are the relatively small part of overall health care costs, they often provide a single, but the biggest source of direct cost to the individual. It is therefore not surprising that the pharmaceutical industry has been marked as a potential source of cost savings through either price controls or through the formulary lists.

Even without the major pieces of legislation adopted by Congress on health care reform, the ...