FDA has launched a new Web site, called FDA Basics, to provide the public with information about how the agency operates, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 1/12).
The Web site includes a question-and-answer section about FDA and the products it regulates, videos about the agency's efforts and conversations with FDA leaders (Rhea, Modern Healthcare, 1/12).
The Web site is part of the Obama administration's Open Government Initiative, which aims to make federal agencies more accessible and transparent (Mosquera, Government Health IT, 1/12).
Traditionally, strict confidentiality rules have governed FDA's operations because the agency's scientists work with proprietary information from food, drug and device companies. However, in recent years, FDA has been criticized for being too slow to disclose drug safety issues (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 1/12).
Task Force
Last year, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg established a task force to develop recommendations on how to make the agency's operations and decision-making processes more transparent (Government Health IT, 1/12). The new Web site was part of the first phase of the FDA initiative.
For the second phase, the task force will provide the FDA commissioner with recommendations on how to make the agency's activities more transparent, useful and understandable to the public while maintaining the privacy of regulated companies' confidential data.
For the third phase, the task force will make recommendations on how the agency can make its operations more transparent to the industries it regulates (Modern Healthcare, 1/12).