The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) origins began in 1906 with the establishment of the Food and Drug Act. Signed into law by President Theodore Roosevelt, the Food and Drug Act (renamed in 1930 to the Food and Drug Administration) began as a law that restricted interstate commerce of food and drugs which were “adulterated” and “misbranded.” Up until that time, there were very few laws in place which regulated the sales and contents of pharmaceuticals and food products which were manufactured and produced domestically. Harvey Washington Wiley, chief chemist of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Division of Chemistry at the time, was the powerhouse behind the creation of this law and was the driving force for the enforcement of it in …show more content…
As a result of the narrowly defined act and Wiley’s unfair attacks against food manufacturers who produced their products with chemical additives, the Board of Food and Drug Inspection was implemented in 1907 and the Referee Board of Consulting Scientific Experts was created in1908 to advise the department on safety issues associated with food additives. This in turn undercut Wiley's scientific authority and he soon resigned in …show more content…
As a result of this new focus, the 1938 Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act was created and its purpose was to “legally mandate quality and identity standards for foods, prohibit false therapeutic claims for drugs, coverage of cosmetic and medical devices, clarify the FDA’s right to conduct factory inspections, and control product advertising (FDA History - Part II).” The FDA soon after implemented the new law and began enforcing it to pharmaceutical companies which offered drugs such as sulfas by requiring a prescription from physicians at purchase due to the fact that it could not be labeled safe for use directly by consumers. This led to the Durham-Humphrey Amendment of 1951 which ended a long-time debate between the FDA, the pharmaceutical industry, consumers, and physicians over what should constitute a prescription and was should be safe for over-the-counter consumption. Cosmetic and medical devices were also newly regulated under the law, although pre-market approval did not apply to them like food and drugs, the new law associated them with drugs for regulatory purposes. In 1960, color amendments strengthened the safety requirement for color additives, making it necessary to conduct additional testing for many existing color additives to meet the new safety
The beginning of Meat Inspection Act seemed to be at 1904, after “The Jungle” of Sinclair published. In fact, it started twenty years earlier, the regular law, used to satisfy Europe, the largest meat export market, but in 1865 Congress passed an act to prevent the importation of diseased cattle and pigs. Because of disease, European like Italian, French, and English restricted or banned the importation meat, and they turned to another supplier. Some bills were introduced but they failed to gather sufficient support. May 1884, Bureau of Animal Industry was established, it was doing good job in fighting Europe restrictions, helping the packers, but not helping the domestic consumers. March 1891, the first major meat inspection law was passed; some country removed the prohibitions on importing American pork. It distressed the European packing industry as well. So, they imposed more standards. Government had to do more action; major percent meat slaughtered was inspected. Some of companies exploited the law, but most of them, especially big companies agreed with the committee in 1902. In 1904, Smith, who was a great information aid to Sinclair, published a series of articles in The Lancet...
... Officer on Proposed Trade Regulation Rule: Concerning the Advertising of Over-the Counter Antacids. Washington, D.C.: Federal Trade Commission, 1979.
“Pure Food and Drug Act 1906.” 34 U.S. Stats. 768, quoted in Medicine in the Americas, Bethesda, Maryland: National Library of Medicine, 2004. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22116/.
The momentum generated by the passage of the Meat Inspection Act helped secure the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act, which had been stalled in Congress since 1905. With these two pieces of legislation, the federal government took important steps to assure the public that the food they were eating met minimu...
No Author. "Pure food and drug act." wikipedia 23 March 2005. 4 oct. 2007 .
To begin, the Federal Food and Drug Administration does not have the power to regulate supplements like it does with drugs. Once a product is out on the market, the FDA has to prove that it is dangerous or has illegal additives before it can be removed. The FDA has targeted around seventy tainted weight loss products after learning that they had been mixed with undeclared stimulants, diuretics, and antidepressants (Trebilcock 2). The Federal Food, and Drug, Administration is responsible for ensuring that the manufacturers of foods provide safe ingredients and the correct amount of dosages for their products.
Why do consumers purchase specific drugs for various ailments, sicknesses or diseases they might have? Why do physicians prescribe certain drugs over competitive drugs that may be available to the public? Why is it that most of us can easily name specific drugs that fit the many ailments of today’s society? On the surface the answer might be as simple as good TV advertising or radio commercials or even internet adds. The truth of matter is the major pharmaceutical manufacturers own the patents on these drugs and this gives them all of the marketing budget and muscle they need to promote the drug and control the pricing. The incentives for larger pharmaceutical companies are very enticing and as a result, they don’t mind spending the time in clinical trials and patent courts to get their drugs approved. Some will even get patents on the process by which the drug is manufactured, ensuring that no competitor can steal the drug or the process. This protects their large financial investment and nearly guarantees a large return for their investors. Many consumer rights groups claim this is nothing more than legalizing monopolies for the biggest manufacturers.
Along side of the FDA was the Meat Inspection Act of 1906. This put strains on and required the slaughterhouses to clean up. Sanitation became a big issue, and the slaughterhouses were now inspected for cleanliness. Also, every animal carcass to be inspected and pass inspection before it could be processed and used any further; it had to be cleared of infection and diseases.
Whorton James, review of Pure Food: Securing the Pure Food and Drug Acts of 1906, by
"Regulatory Information." Federal Food and Drugs Act of 1906. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 20 May 2009. Web. 14 Apr. 2014. .
Roosevelt was considered a "trustbuster" after that case. Later in 1906, in response to public pressure for greater government intervention into businesses, he and Congress passed the Hepburn Act. The Hepburn Act says that “railroads can only charge the amount that is set by the government, and that the government was able to inspect financial records“. The Pure Food and Drug Act, which brought about the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was next. This act says that all foods and drugs have to be tested and approved by a government official before they go onto the market.
... government inspection of meat products. The Pure Food and Drug act also passed after the Meat inspection Act of 1906. The packers denied the charges and opposed the bills to no avail. These bills protected the publics right to safe sanitary meat.
From 2010 forward, The Food and Drug Administration has added product formulations that have deterring properties for abuse plus have supported education on the precise dosing and usage.
risk, for drugs and medical devices, weighing risks against benefits is at the core of
I learned that drugs and cosmetics often contain chemicals that can be hazardous or have dangerous side effects. For example, a brand of mascara called Lash Lure caused many women to go blind and one woman even died because it contained a chemical that burned the skin when used as directed. After about 100 people died from using a cough syrup called Elixir Sulfanilamide, which was made toxic by its production method, the American public was faced with a decision and it caused our government to pass the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act in 1938.