FDA advisory c'tees "a high priority"

In his new weekly web site column, US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach notes that, each year, the agency expends considerable resources convening over 60 advisory committee meetings. "This is part of our commitment to engage a wide range of scientific expertise to inform our regulatory decision making process. This is the right thing to do for we must keep up-to-date with the rapidly-changing world of science related to the products we regulate," he said.

In the column, titled "Andy's Take," the FDA chief says "something so important deserves careful scrutiny to assure we are doing it the right way. Our Advisory Committee function is therefore one of my highest priorities in our agency wide process-improvement effort." He continued: "assuring that we draw from an extensive and rich talent pool of advisors and manage appropriately concerns regarding conflict of interest are two aspects of such a process." Current efforts are also addressing issues like how meetings are conducted, including having an open and transparent process for convening them, he said.