Do You Know FDA Deputy Commissioners Howard Sklamberg and Sally Howard and more
Advocacy at a Glance offers you the bullet point summary of current advocacy issues associated with the goals of the Alliance for a Stronger FDA.
Please Say “Thank You” to Appropriators. Click here to see a letter signed by Alliance leadership that thanks Congressional appropriators for prioritizing FDA funding in the FY 14 appropriations bill. Click here to see a draft template for Alliance members to consider using to thank appropriators. Please consider taking some time to write a thank you letter. To ease administrative burden on our members and to increase impact, the Alliance will be pleased to collect PDF’s of members’ thank you letters, and will deliver them as a combined group. We encourage you to e-mail your thank you letter to Anthony Curry by close of business on Monday February 3.
Do You Know FDA Deputy Commissioners Howard Sklamberg and Sally Howard? If not, come by and meet them at our Quarterly Membership Meeting (Feb. 4 at 1:00 pm). Howard Sklamberg is the Deputy Commissioner for Global Regulatory Operations and Policy. Mr. Sklamberg most recently was director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research's (CDER) Office of Compliance (OC). Sally Howard is the Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Planning, and Legislation. Prior to this position, Ms. Howard served as Chief of Staff to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. Note: the meeting starts at 1 p.m., as will all of the quarterly member meetings in 2014. The meeting will take place on the 10th Floor of 1333 New Hampshire Ave., NW.
Everyone’s Talking About Budget and Appropriations for FY 15. With last December’s budget agreement already having set the top-line spending total for FY 15, the House and Senate budget committees are uncertain whether and how to proceed this year. Initial reports suggest that the House is inclined to move forward with a budget resolution and the Senate is not. However, we expect this to changes several times before firm decisions are made. Meantime, appropriators have talked about moving forward with subcommittees allocations regardless of whether there is a budget resolution. In the analysis and commentary below, we explain this maneuvering and also continue last week’s discussion on the prospects for FDA funding in FY 15.
“Personalized Medicine and Quality, Coordinated Care: The Cystic Fibrosis Model” is a Hill briefing on February 11 to educate members of Congress and their staff on cystic fibrosis (CF) and the CF models for care delivery and drug development, and how they demonstrate what is possible for other rare and chronic diseases. The CF Foundation will also touch on ways that the FDA can improve its implementation of accelerated approval and other programs. For more information or to RSVP, please e-mail Steven Garza at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.