What and why do americans need the fda What are all the benefits of Research Paper

What and why do americans need the fda What are all the benefits of the FDA PROs of the fda - Research Paper Example FDA is a federal agency headed by a commissioner who is appointed by the President of the US (Whittaker and Walter, The Purpose par. 1). Its precursor agency was the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration which was reorganized from the Bureau of Chemistry in 1927 (Lee and Sprague, History par. 3). In 1930, the name of the agency was changed to Food and Drug Administration (par. 3). It was said to protect not only the interest of the consumers but also the pharmacology industry due to some complexities that it has encountered in the process of regulation (Jacobs and Carson-Dewitt par. 1). The earliest functions of the FDA were set forth in the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938 which was passed after the poisoning of more than a hundred people from a drug sold by a Tennessee-based company (Lee and Sprague, History par. 3). The Act mandated that all drugs should pass the FDA approval before being released into the market (par. 3). Moreover, FDA was required to provide a set of safety standards for food and drugs, and that drugs should contain detailed labels and proper instructions for use (par. 3). Its scope of functions increased with the passage of other laws (e.g. Food Additives Amendment of 1958, Drug Abuse Control Amendments of 1965, 1976 Medical Devices Amendments) (par. 5). One-fourth of all the products in the US market are regulated by FDA as of 2008 (Lee and Sprague, FDA Approvals par. 3). Pharmaceutical firms are allowed by law to advertise their products which may not be accurate since adverts are made to exaggerate in order to convince consumers to buy their products. The FDA has the power to regulate the contents of the advertisements so that only a â€Å"balanced perspective† will be presented to consumers and end-users (DiLascio, FDA Regulations par. 1). Pharmaceuticals firms have also resorted to the DTC strategy in marketing their products. DTC refers to the Direct-to-Consumer approach that tends to reach consumers directly through