Bloomberg: FDA reorganizes to optimize industry oversight

NEW YORK — The Food and Drug Administration is reorganizing its field team within the FDA’s Office of Regulatory Affairs with a new focus on specific product areas vs. oversight of activities based on geographic regions, Bloomberg reported Monday.



The refocusing “will make our field programs more modern and responsive to today’s threats and challenges, while making sure that we are taking a risk-based and science-based approach to our work,” reported Scott Gottlieb, now one week into his new role as FDA commissioner, in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg. “We need to make sure that we are achieving the greatest degree of consumer protection with the resources that we have."



The Natural Products Association on Tuesday expressed its support of the reorganization and applauded commissioner Gottlieb for his efforts to modernize the agency.



“The most effective way to oversee the supplement industry is to enforce the current law and aggressively pursue criminals that break it,” stated Dan Fabricant, president and CEO of NPA.  “We applaud Dr. Gottlieb’s commitment to modernizing the FDA and making it more responsive to the consumers and manufacturers of dietary supplements and natural products.”



The initiative was proposed four years ago, with implementation set to start this month, Bloomberg reported.