Food and Drug Administration

Introduction

The Food and Drug administration or FDA is an official regulatory authority of United States used to drug and food control. This is an agency controlled within the health and human services department of United States government. This agency is basically responsible for protection of public health through supervision and regulation of number of products like medical devices, food, cosmetics, dietary supplements, tobacco, bottled water, and prescription and over the counter drugs (Sinclair, 245). The FDA is also charged with improving public health by disseminating scientifically based information and fostering innovations to make food and medicines safe, effective, and affordable. Areas that generally do not fall under the jurisdiction of the FDA include alcoholic beverages, most household goods, illegal drugs such as heroin that do not have therapeutic use, pesticides, meat and poultry, and municipal water supplies. The current commissioner of the FDA is Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, a physician and public health administrator who was appointed by President Barack Obama in February 2009. The FDA budget request for fiscal year 2010 was $3.2 billion. The FDA is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services, which is itself one of the 15 cabinet-level departments of the government of the United States (Pray, 79). The FDA is divided into 5 major Centers.

Purpose of the FDA

The role of the FDA is to protect public health in the United States. The FDA regulates the safety and efficacy of human and veterinary medicinal products, biological products, medical devices, food, and radiation-emitting devices. This applies to American-made and imported products. The improvement of public health is the responsibility of the FDA. This is done in part through support for the acceleration of innovation, which drug - and foods more effective, safer and more affordable (Hilts, 14). Furthermore, the FDA published detailed, scientifically-based information on use of medicines and foods to improve health. All of the U.S. licensed medicines must be manufactured at pharmaceutical manufacturers, which have been inspected by the FDA and their production facilities to meet regulatory systems. The same goes for manufacturers of medical devices. In 1994, the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) was adopted. This provides that certain dietary supplements as foods rather than drugs classified and thus do not need to be approved by the FDA.

History of the FDA

Origin and Development

FDA is the oldest body of public health at the federal level. Its history dates back to 1862, when U.S. President Abraham Lincoln asked the chemist Charles Vetera (Charles M. Wetherill) to work in the newly created Department (Ministry) of Agriculture. Following this, the department was organized by the Bureau of Chemistry, designed to monitor the quality of food. Soon, the competence of the Bureau for medicines has spread. The main part of the legal framework defining the rights of the FDA today was formed as a result of dramatic incidents and crises of public confidence in the safety of food and medicines (Glantz, 1883). The Law on the Prevention of viral infections ...