FDA Patient Network Website Launched
Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D., says the site is an interactive tool for educating patients, patient advocates, and consumers on how medications and medical devices "move from the realm of idea to the realm of the marketplace."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has launched a new website, the FDA Patient Network, with the slogan "Get Informed. Get Involved. Help FDA Help Patients Have a Bigger Voice." It is entirely focused on patients, Margaret A. Hamburg, M.D., FDA commissioner, said in the agency's announcement April 23.
She noted that since the early 1990s, FDA has been working with patients and patient advocates to educate them about how medical products are developed and regulated. Patient representatives also participate in FDA advisory meetings. "When patients better understand the intricacies of how medical products are studied, reviewed, assessed and brought to market, their input will be that much more focused and valuable. We hope, with the launch of this new web site, to expand the role of patients beyond the select group of patient representatives and to engage a wider audience of patients in new and broader ways," she wrote.
Information on the site will make it easier for patients to find what they are looking for and understand the significance of what they find, she added.