Understanding Government

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Raquel Rutledge and Rick Barrett had an investigative report this weekend on faulty health care products made by the Triad Group, which is based in Hartland, Wisconsin. These faulty products caused grave illnesses in children that Rutledge and Barrett profile. The worst part is that these tragedies were preventable: the Food and Drug Administration knew Triad made faulty products but trusted the company’s assurances that it would make alterations.

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a consumer warning that alfalfa sprouts grown on the Urbana, Illinois organic farm Tiny Greens are linked to salmonella. However, Monica Eng of the Chicago Tribune reports that not one of the Tiny Greens sprouts the FDA and Illinois Department of Public Health tested showed salmonella contamination. (more…)

Gardiner Harris and William Neuman’s report in the New York Times at the Senate vote approving new food inspection powers for the Food and Drug Administration hints at a key question: how will the FDA manage its new responsibilities?  The change, which now must be approved in the House, is significant:

The bill is intended to keep unsafe foods from reaching markets and restaurants, where they can make people sick — a change from the current practice, which mainly involves cracking down after outbreaks occur.

As a result, the FDA will gain new powers to inspect sources of food products overseas and in the U.S.  It will be able to “recall tainted foods, increase inspections, [and] demand accountability from food companies and oversee farming.”

But changing the culture at FDA will be hard. (more…)

The Food and Drug Administration will now inspect more medical devices that are similar to devices already approved by the agency. Deborah L. Shelton of the Chicago Tribune details how the new rules stem partly from a case that involves Dr. Patrick McCarthy, a cardiac surgeon at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. (more…)

The Washington Post’s Lyndsey Layton reports that the Food and Drug Administration will take a bold new step in public health enforcement — regulating salt. For now, no specific salt limits have been set — the FDA has only said that regulators will work with food manufacturers to limit salt in processed foods, where 77 percent of American’s salt intake comes from.

Food industry representatives like Morton (yes, his first name is Morton) Satin of the Salt Institute argue that the “science regarding sodium is unclear.” But one recent study shows that, “cutting salt intake by 3 grams a day could prevent tens of thousands of heart attacks, strokes and cases of heart disease.” Such stats plus the likelihood that most people don’t know how much salt they consume each day makes a compelling case for regulation.