by Tara Sklar
At the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) 2018 Annual Conference, the Commissioner of Food and Drugs, Scott Gottlieb, gave the Keynote Address to kick-off the largest turnout yet for this event of over 900 attendees. Commissioner Gottlieb’s remarks started off with how previous FDA Commissioners used this opportunity to recap the past year, but he would be different, he would lay out the strategic priorities for next year.
The room went nearly silent, as Commissioner Gottlieb steadily went through the many sectors the agency oversees, and where he believes the FDA will play a larger leadership role, including in the epidemics of addition (opioid crisis), drug costs, and greater access to generic competition. He laid out a vision that most people in the room would probably subscribe to, including “You’re public health minded, and work hard to deliver innovations that’ll advance human health. The problem is that a few bad apples, that game the system, can tarnish the entire brand of an otherwise principled industry.”[1] Close to the end of his thirty-minute speech, Commissioner Gottlieb firmly addressed the companies that produce e-cigarettes, and said, “If you target kids, then we’re going to target you.”[2]
Indeed, Commissioner Gottlieb mentioned so many FDA strategic priorities, and in such unequivocal detail for how they plan to regulate, that when the President & CEO of the FDLI, Amy Comstock Rick, thanked him and introduced the follow-up panel to discuss the issues Commissioner Gottlieb raised, she said, “We reserved one-hour in the conference to discuss Commissioner Gottlieb’s Keynote Address, but we may need five.” However, there was an area that was not brought up in Commissioner Gottlieb’s wide-ranging speech, despite its very active place in the media and scientific journals calling for the FDA to have a greater role, and more consistent guidance, and this prominent area is the future regulation of cannabis. Read More
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