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How Should US FDA Navigate Thorny First Amendment Conundrums: Former Chief Counsels Offer Advice

 
• By Michael Cipriano

Daniel Troy suggests FDA increase its investment in science of consumer understanding, while Richard Cooper recommends the "bully pulpit" approach to get industry's attention. A panel of former chief counsels stressed that the agency cannot continue to ignore First Amendment free speech issues.

Man with mouth covered by masking tape

US FDA has been in an unsettled state regarding its regulation of First Amendment free speech issues, and several former chief counsels have some tips for how the agency can better navigate the complex issue.

Speaking at an Oct. 19 panel of former FDA chief counsels at a meeting in Washington, DC, hosted by the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI), Daniel Troy, who served in the position from 2001 to 2004, pushed the agency to pursue more investment in "sound science from the sense of how people perceive things

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