FDA, DoD Prioritize Availability of Emergency Medical Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Defense's Office of Health Affairs have launched a joint program to prioritize the efficient development of safe and effective medical products intended to save the lives of American military personnel.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Defense's Office of Health Affairs announced they have launched a joint program to prioritize the efficient development of safe and effective medical products intended to save the lives of American military personnel.
The framework for the program was put in place through H.R. 4374, which authorized DoD to request, and FDA to provide, support to expedite development and FDA's review of products to diagnose, treat, or prevent serious or life-threatening diseases or conditions facing people in the American military.
Using this law, FDA will work closely with Health Affairs to better understand deployed personnel's medical needs, give priority attention to and accelerate its review of priority DoD medical products, provide ongoing technical advice to Health Affairs to help in the rapid development and production of medical products for use by the military, and look closely at products currently being developed and opportunities to expedite their availability.
"This partnership reflects the invaluable collaboration between Health Affairs and the FDA to equip U.S. warfighters with the best possible military medical support as we work to achieve a safer, more secure world," said Tom McCaffery, acting assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. "Expeditious access to life-saving medical products for U.S. troops on the battlefield is part and parcel to ensuring our shared priority of operational readiness. The Department of Defense looks forward to working with the FDA on this important program to ensure delivery of critical battlefield medicine to our service members downrange."
The joint program is the first step in building an ongoing partnership between FDA and DoD. The two federal partners are confident the partnership will lead to a program that can better serve the health care needs of American military personnel.