Mr. Trump and his team of advisers are known to be very upset with the FDA because of its tight grip on the issues it cares about, so many have predicted that the agency will undergo a major change under the new administration.
Dr. Robert Califf, who was appointed to serve as administrator of the FDA just over a year ago, is expected to undergo a major overhaul soon after the new administration takes office. “With President Trump and a business-dominated Congress, we’re likely to see a lot of consumer protections go away over the next few years,” said Michael Jacobson, co-founder and president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI).
The FDA is seen as an agency that stifles innovation.
Mr. Trump and his aides (especially former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, known for his work on health research) have long viewed the FDA as a bloated agency that stifles medical innovation. Gingrich has called the FDA a “job-breaker,” and he wrote in National Review in 2013 that “the FDA is a giant prison that prevents medical breakthroughs.”
As a result, those in the public health field are bracing for major changes, including allowing imports of other drugs from outside the United States and fewer restrictions on clinical trials.
Squeeze the vape industry
The administration isn’t the only group that thinks the FDA is trying to overreach. Several groups in the medical and vaping industries have taken issue with the agency, arguing that it’s more interested in exerting control than in advancing public health.
The regulation, which was introduced and implemented in August, has created a significant disadvantage for small vape businesses. The consequence of this is that only Big Tobacco can afford to pay the expensive tobacco business license fees imposed by this agency.
Ultimately, if this remains unchanged, local vape shops will continue to close, and Big Tobacco, which is investing in vape products, will continue to thrive unscathed in the marketplace.
Waiting for change
There will naturally be mixed opinions when Mr. Trump takes office, and many organizations are worried that under his rule, some industries such as tobacco, healthcare, and food will have fewer regulations to comply with, leading to opportunities for unsafe products. One thing is for sure, the wind is changing, and how that change will happen… we will have to wait and see.
This article was published on Vapingpost by Diane Caruana and translated by The Vape Club.
