11 New Consumer Advocates to Join Advisory Committees in 2013

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is calling for the nomination of consumer representatives for its public advisory committees.

FDA uses the advisory panels to review high-risk drug products or pressing issues that warrant a transparent discussion of the issues and allow for public comment. Though regulators are free to disregard the final opinions of the committee-and occasionally do, most often when the panel is deeply divided-the committees' opinions often foreshadow FDA's own decisions.

By law, these committees are supposed to be "fairly balanced" to include participation from non-conflicted experts, members of industry and members of the public. The latter two categories are occasionally sought as non-voting members, but are nevertheless influential in their ability to raise questions or points that may alter or influence the course of the committee's discussion.

On 21 February 2013, FDA announced that it is actively seeking 11 members for its advisory committees and their various panels. All eleven are supposed to represent consumer interests, and seven will be given voting privileges on their respective panels. The remaining four will serve in a non-voting capacity.

Requests for Nominations