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It’s the start of flu season – time to protect yourself and your family by getting vaccinated! In today’s #FDA #SUNDAYTWEETORIAL I’m going to talk about #FDA’s role in ensuring the safety, effectiveness, and availability of the 2019 influenza vaccines. #VaccinesWork #FightFlu 
I know there are questions about the effectiveness and benefits of the flu vaccine given the severity of last year’s flu season, so I want to update you on what we’ve learned, the effectiveness of this year’s vaccine and why vaccination is important go.usa.gov/xPWhS.
We've made important modifications to this year's #Flu vaccine to improve its effectiveness; changing two of the strains (for the H3N2 and Influenza B components) to better reflect the influenza strains that we believe are most likely to circulate this winter. More on this later.
Compounded drugs serve an important medical need for patients who can’t use an FDA-approved medication. In today’s #FDA #SUNDAYTWEETORIAL, I’m going to talk about what FDA is doing to preserve access to appropriately compounded drugs while protecting patients from serious risks.
In drug compounding, ingredients are combined, mixed or altered to create a sterile or non-sterile medication tailored to a patient - such as those with an allergy who need a drug without a certain dye or a child who can’t swallow a tablet and needs medicine in a liquid form.
But compounded drugs, which aren’t FDA-approved, may pose serious risks if not produced properly, potentially resulting in contamination or medications that do not possess the strength, quality or purity they are supposed to have bit.ly/2G7IpjB
As kids are heading back to school, for this #FDA #SUNDAYTWEETORIAL I’m going to talk about MEASLES and the vital importance of vaccination. You may’ve seen recent news stories reporting cases of measles in parts of the US and EU. Most cases have occurred in unvaccinated people
In 2018 there have been 124 individual cases of measles in 22 states and D.C. Measles can spread when it reaches a community where there are groups of unvaccinated people. And travelers with measles continue to bring the disease into the United States go.usa.gov/xUzwa
Measles is caused by the rubeola virus and is highly contagious. It is normally passed through direct contact or through the air. The virus infects the respiratory tract, then spreads throughout the body, causing a skin rash, fever, cough and runny nose.
Consumers want and expect safe, wholesome and affordable food. They deserve nothing less. In today’s #FDA #SUNDAYTWEETORIAL I’m talking about what steps the FDA, the states and produce farmers are taking - in collaboration - to ensure the safety of fresh fruits and vegetables.
We hear too often about food safety concerns involving fresh fruit and vegetables -most recently the outbreak of E. coli O157:H7 infections associated with romaine lettuce from the Yuma growing region, the largest such outbreak in the U.S. in more than 10 years.
From 1998-2008 there were 455 produce-associated food outbreaks, with more than 16,000 people becoming ill, more than twice the number of produce-associated illnesses from 1973-1997. This is a significant public health burden that should be largely preventable.
For this weekend's #FDA #SUNDAYTWEETORIAL I’m going to talk about what FDA is doing to modernize clinical trials to reduce the cost of drug development, potentially lower drug costs and bring more safe, effective therapies to patients.
FDA’s mission is to both promote and protect public health. For medical products, this means ensuring that they are safe and effective for their intended use. Clinical trials are the primary vehicle for generating the evidence FDA needs to ensure that.
The traditional drug development paradigm calls for 3 clinical trial phases: A small phase 1 tests safety and dosing, phase 2 tests short-term side effects and effectiveness over a range of doses; and the large phase 3 assesses whether the product’s benefits outweigh its risks.
The topic of this week’s #FDA #SUNDAYTWEETORIAL is #drugshortages. FDA does everything possible within our authority to help address shortages. While we’ve made progress to mitigate shortages; we must do even more to understand and address the root causes of persistent shortages
Manufacturing & quality issues are some of the proximate causes of drug shortages. Availability of raw materials; unexpected increases in demand, i.e. due to illness outbreaks or changes in clinical practice; or unavailability of other drugs in a class also can lead to a shortage
We’ve seen # of new drug shortages steadily decline due to work by FDA, industry and others. In 2017, we worked w/ manufacturers to prevent 145 shortages. There were still 35 new shortages last year, but this compared to peak of 251 new shortages in ‘11 bit.ly/2JiNGpf
For this week’s #FDA #SUNDAYTWEETORIAL, I want to talk about #biosimilars. It's a critical moment in the development of the market for these products. We'll advance major policy changes in this area soon. Enhancing biosimilar competition is a key to reducing overall drug spending
Congress charged #FDA with maintaining balance between encouraging and rewarding innovation and facilitating robust and timely competition. We must ensure that this balance exists across the spectrum of pharma products; from small molecules to more complex products to biologics
Biologics play a key role in treating many serious illnesses like cancer or genetic disorders. While they offer many therapeutic benefits, biologics often come at high expense. While <2% of US patients use biologics, they represent ~40% of total Rx spend bit.ly/2EsWDOr
