Reg•Watch is retroactively declaring March 22, 2007 Scrutinize the FDA Day (see below). Here's one more bit of news before this soon-to-be widely celebrated holiday comes to a close.
This morning, the House Energy and Commerce Committee subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held its second hearing on the FDA drug approval process. Panel Democrats grilled FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach on how the agency has become powerless in regulating drugs, especially after they reach the market. Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) repeatedly criticized the culture at FDA as a contributing factor. OMB Watch has reported on the increasing need for reform in the agency's drug approval process.
The hearing also featured testimony from Marcia Crosse — not the desperate housewife, but the Government Accountability Office director for health care. Crosse's testimony pointed out FDA has begun initiatives to correct some of the problems detailed in a 2006 GAO report, but it is too soon to tell how effective those reforms will be.
Also of note, at least one lawmaker, Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) mentioned FDA's new guidance on advisory members which Reg•Watch mentioned earlier today.
A Failure to Govern: Bush's Attack on the Regulatory Process outlines President Bush's recent changes to the regulatory process. The report details the potential impacts the changes will have on federal agencies and the American public, as well as what the changes mean to democracy at large.