The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has taken a strong public
stance against an amendment to proposed legislation that would limit
the type of information the agency may use in making regulatory
decisions. The amendment to an agriculture appropriations bill was
offered by Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT) in what Rehberg said is an effort
to block FDA from relying on “soft science.” If passed, the amendment
would hinder FDA efforts to protect the public from unsafe drugs,
tobacco, lead-filled candy and tainted blood, according to FDA
documents. “FDA must sometimes act when there are credible risks, but
before the weight of scientific evidence has been established,” agency
officials wrote in an analysis of the amendment. “This amendment would
require that consumers actually be harmed before FDA can take certain
actions to protect the public health.”
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