Advocacy at a Glance

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.

• Congress’ Summer Adjournment; Back in September. The House and Senate will be in recess from now through Labor Day, breaking for the convention and August campaigning. There are a number of open items in the health care area. Each is beset by funding problems, as discussed in last week’s Analysis and Commentary. Further, the election season portends major changes after 8 years with one President. This, and its implications for FDA, are discussed in this week’s Analysis and Commentary.

• Despite Promises on Appropriations, a Continuing Resolution is the Likely Outcome. The appropriations committees have made progress marking up appropriations bills in subcommittee and committee, but the momentum has fizzled. An omnibus funding bill is the desirable alternative, but there is now rumor of a continuing resolution that would extend from October 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017.

• Learning About FDA Priorities and Challenges. One of the major activities of the Alliance is to learn about the priorities and challenges at the FDA, so that we can become better advocates for the agency. As part of that effort, FDA CDRH Director Jeff Shuren has agreed to speak to the Alliance at our quarterly membership meeting which is scheduled for September 6 at 1:00 p.m.. In preparation for this speech, the Alliance will be meeting with Dr. Shuren in his offices towards the end of July -- if you are interested in joining us, please let us know. Also, we are working on meetings with various other FDA leaders over the next months -- we will be updating the membership as those meetings get scheduled.

• Dr. Woodcock Celebrates 30 Years at FDA; Reflects on Changes. Janet Woodcock, director of CDER, has some interesting observations about how things at FDA are changing and what the future holds. You can listen to them or read them at Celebrating 30 years at FDA.