Robert Califf, FDA Commissioner: Protecting the Public’s Health, From Baby Formula to Vaccines
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More than $2.7 trillion worth of food, medical products, and tobacco, representing 20 percent of every dollar spent by US consumers, is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Always in the public eye, and often summoned to explain its actions to Congress, the FDA is as likely to be lauded as lambasted for its swift authorization of COVID-19 vaccines, its decision to ban menthol from cigarettes, and the risk/benefit calculation it made before shutting down an infant formula manufacturing plant. Also sure to engender controversy are the agency’s limited authority over dietary supplements, its inability to influence drug prices, and the resource shortfalls that curtail its inspection of food imports.
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