Center for Tobacco Products News

Congressional Quarterly has published a insightful report on the Tobacco Advisory Committee.  The article states, in part,

“Tozzi, who was a deputy administrator of the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan administration, says … “If there’s ever a shadow government, it’s the whole idea of advisory committees,” he says. “Advisory committees are picked by the agency to further the agency’s goals.”

See the attachment below.

CQWeekly.May 29 (1)

As part of their initiative to bring transparency to the FDA’s tobacco advisory committee examining potential regulatory policies for menthol cigarettes, dissolvable tobacco products and other issues, the watchdog group Center for Regulatory Effectiveness (CRE) launched a “Studies and Concepts Under Review” forum that allows experts to analyze the FDA’s reports on the issue of menthol in cigarettes.

By DAVID KESMODEL

WILLIAMSBURG, Va.—The top tobacco regulator at the Food and Drug Administration signaled to industry executives Monday that he would take a firm approach to overseeing the industry, but pledged to keep an open mind about new products and ideas to reduce tobacco-related illnesses.

Dr. Lawrence Deyton, director of the agency’s Center for Tobacco Products, said in a speech at an annual tobacco-industry conference here that his job “is to address this enormous toll of confusion, suffering and death caused by the current state of tobacco use in this country.”

A major news organizations throughout the nation reported on the IPD launch.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnw/20100518/pl_usnw/DC06768

. The Food and Drug Administration relies on 49 expert committees to advise it on policy matters and on whether particular drugs or other medical products are safe and effective. The agency has made substantial progress in reducing conflicts of interest among members, and it is now pledging to search “far and wide” for neutral experts and to make more information public about any waivers it grants. That is all good news, provided the agency remains appropriately stingy in granting waivers as it struggles to fill a huge number of vacancies on those committees — roughly a third of more than 600 slots are open… Under a draft guidance document issued the same day as the letter, the agency plans to release crucial information that it previously withheld. Whenever a waiver is granted to a scientist, the agency will name the company or institution with which the scientist has financial interests, along with the rough amount of that interest. We would prefer no conflicts at all. But more disclosure is better. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/05/opinion/05wed3.html