Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis.
The United States Constitution protects the right of citizens to petition the government for "a redress of grievances." This right has important implications for citizens desiring to advance the public health by petitioning administrative agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration,...
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doaj-fa70edf9671c4b318c09440a87cd763a2020-11-25T01:53:42ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032016-01-01115e015525910.1371/journal.pone.0155259Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis.Brian K ChenY Tony YangXi ChengJohn BianCharles L BennettThe United States Constitution protects the right of citizens to petition the government for "a redress of grievances." This right has important implications for citizens desiring to advance the public health by petitioning administrative agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, to take safety actions. We examined a total of 1,915 petitions filed between 2001 and 2013 to investigate the outcomes of citizen petitions that address public health concerns. We found that most petitions were filed by manufacturers against other manufacturers. Only 346 (18%) of all petitions were submitted by individuals and non-profit organizations, and 178 (87.3%) of these petitions with a final response were denied. On average, these petitions required 2.85 years for a final agency decision, and many decisions remain pending 10-13 years after their initial submission. The great majority of the approved requests included some form of risk communication, such as labeling changes, boxed warnings or placement of a drug into a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy. As a policy instrument to improve the safety of medical and food products, the citizen petition process requires sophisticated legal and scientific expertise, and may not represent a viable route for ordinary citizens to petition the FDA to "redress grievances."http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4865109?pdf=render |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Brian K Chen Y Tony Yang Xi Cheng John Bian Charles L Bennett |
spellingShingle |
Brian K Chen Y Tony Yang Xi Cheng John Bian Charles L Bennett Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis. PLoS ONE |
author_facet |
Brian K Chen Y Tony Yang Xi Cheng John Bian Charles L Bennett |
author_sort |
Brian K Chen |
title |
Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis. |
title_short |
Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis. |
title_full |
Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis. |
title_fullStr |
Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis. |
title_sort |
petitioning the fda to improve pharmaceutical, device and public health safety by ordinary citizens: a descriptive analysis. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
series |
PLoS ONE |
issn |
1932-6203 |
publishDate |
2016-01-01 |
description |
The United States Constitution protects the right of citizens to petition the government for "a redress of grievances." This right has important implications for citizens desiring to advance the public health by petitioning administrative agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, to take safety actions. We examined a total of 1,915 petitions filed between 2001 and 2013 to investigate the outcomes of citizen petitions that address public health concerns. We found that most petitions were filed by manufacturers against other manufacturers. Only 346 (18%) of all petitions were submitted by individuals and non-profit organizations, and 178 (87.3%) of these petitions with a final response were denied. On average, these petitions required 2.85 years for a final agency decision, and many decisions remain pending 10-13 years after their initial submission. The great majority of the approved requests included some form of risk communication, such as labeling changes, boxed warnings or placement of a drug into a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy. As a policy instrument to improve the safety of medical and food products, the citizen petition process requires sophisticated legal and scientific expertise, and may not represent a viable route for ordinary citizens to petition the FDA to "redress grievances." |
url |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC4865109?pdf=render |
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