We were outraged last week when the federal government said it would delay hearings on the safety of children using OTC cold medicine.
This is why the federal government either needs better, faster regulatory and investigative resources or some sense of urgency. The public knew that this was an issue days ago. The medical community apparently knew months, if not years, ago. Even the companies that made the over-the-counter meds specifically for kids yanked them off the shelves before the hearings.
If an organization the size of McNeil (makers of Tylenol, St. Joseph Aspirin, Mylanta and others) can mobilize to pull medicine from retail shelves all over the country, why does it take a much smaller organization one week to pull together hearings? Why weren't there hearings the next day? What about the weekend? We work weekends sometimes. Do you? Why doesn't the FDA?
And if they do, where is the sense of urgency? We are happy to recognize the makers of the OTC medicines for children for acting fast while still wondering what they knew about this issue going into the fall of 2007. The FDA alone is not culpable. The USDA botched their recall of the tainted pot pies just weeks ago when everyone from the manufacturer to the CDC to the retailers yanked the food from the shelves.
Federal government must act faster. This is why Federal Express is used rather than the USPS when it absolutely positively has to be there overnight. This is why passport regulations are enacted and then lifted when family vacations and critical business trips were destroyed. No organization is perfect, but most private sector companies have some sort of disaster or crisis contingency plan. Our government is charged with many things and does well with some of them. Where they continue missing in the Year of the Recall is speed to take action.
Consumer safety continues to get short shrift, and that cannot continue.
Labels: children, FDA, recall, safety
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