May 22, 2022: We appreciate the opportunity to submit comments and feedback on the draft legislation, the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Landmark Advancement Act of 2022, which will reauthorize the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fee programs.
Read More »We’re Speaking Out on Health Issues
NCHR scientists and health policy experts provide written and oral statements on a wide range of topics.
Here are many of the ways we have been Speaking Out on Health Policy Issues for the last few years. Whether the topic is legislation intended to cure diseases, proposed bans on BPA or other chemicals that disrupt your hormones, the importance of including women, people of color, and patients over 65 in clinical trials, or many other topics, you’ll gain a better understanding of our evidence-based analyses by reading these letters, statements, and testimony.
Here are the ways we have been Speaking out on Medical Treatments and Products, such as prescription drugs and medical devices that the FDA is considering approving, or is considering taking off the market because of serious risks. Whether the topic is Chantix, Addyi, Yaz, Essure, or medical products you’ve never heard of, you can find out more about what is known and not known about the safety and effectiveness of a wide range of products by looking through this section of our website.
Who Should You Believe? A critique of the Aesthetic Society’s view of Breast Implant Illness
A 2022 article in the Aesthetic Surgery Journal makes it clear that Aesthetic Society plastic surgeons are encouraging their members to pretend to share patients’ concerns about breast implant illness (BII) while persuading patients that BII is not real and therefore BII patients do not need explant surgery. A review of their poorly researched article explains which BII studies it ignored or misrepresented and raises questions about bias and gaslighting.
Read More »NCHR Comments on Quality System Regulation Amendments for Medical Devices
May 24, 2022. We recognize that the proposed harmonization with international consensus standard for devices would allow companies to have a single quality management system. However, the proposal ignores several issues of great importance to patients and consumers, and these issues deserve more attention as FDA considers changes to the proposed rule.
Read More »STAT Report : The need for speed and safety: A primer on the FDA’s drug approval pathways
This STAT report provides an excellent primer on FDA’s drug approval pathways, and the controversies about whether patients can be harmed when FDA standards get too lose. Dr. Diana Zuckerman describes the need for the FDA Commissioner to restore the public’s trust.
Read More »Patient, Consumer, and Public Health Coalition Letter on FDA Amendments Act H.R. 7667
May 17, 2022: We are writing to express our strong support for several provisions in The Food and Drug Amendments Act (H.R. 7667), and our concerns about other provisions that could be improved. There are numerous important provisions in the FDA Act, but in this letter we will focus on two major issues: accelerated approval and contrast imaging agents.
Read More »