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.
- Alliance District Lobby Days Planned for Mid-October. Please Participate. The Alliance is planning in-district lobbying days for the week of October 18. We have done these before -- but always one-off around a particular Member and a particular opportunity. This Fall, we are going to take this to the next step -- an organized grassroots effort in six parts of the country to demonstrate the impact and value of the US Food and Drug Administration. If successful, we will make it a regular feature of our program, just like our Hill lobby days and our day devoted to briefing more junior Members of Congress. We are particularly interested in whether your organization has connections to the following states/areas: Overland Park, KS; Bakersfield/Hanford, CA; Maine; Oregon; and Wisconsin. Alliance members can respond directly to Ladd Wiley by e-mail
- Continuing Resolution Still in Negotiations; Two Weeks to Go or Else. As predicted last Friday, Congress knows what the CR will look like -- fund government at FY 16 levels through December 9 -- but is still caught up in negotiating that is likely to take at least another week. Congressional leadership knows Members want to go home to campaign, but is still finding limits on how quickly various items (e.g., Zika funding) can be resolved. A post-election “lame duck” session now seems certain. Please read this week’s Analysis and Commentary for our first look at “what to expect when you are expecting a lame duck” and why it might matter to FDA.
- Alliance Meeting with Dr. Rachel Sherman Planned for October 19. As part of our effort to continue to engage with the FDA, we have scheduled a meeting with Rachel Sherman, Associate Deputy Commissioner for Medical Products and Tobacco, for October 19 at 11:00 a.m. at the White Oak Facility. Her areas of focus include establishing the Oncology Center for Excellence and the combination policy council as well as oversight for the EvGen initiative, the Good Clinical Practice program, Pediatric Therapeutics, and modernization of Advisory Committee practices. Alliance member should let Ladd Wiley know if they are interested in joining the meeting.