Pew, 6 Partners Urge Congress to Adopt OTC Drug Regulation Reform

The Pew Charitable Trusts and six other organizations sent a joint letter to House and Senate leaders urging final passage of legislation to reform the Food and Drug Administration’s system for regulating most over-the-counter (OTC) drugs. Both chambers have advanced legislation with overwhelming bipartisan support, and few differences remain between the two bills.

Pew and its partners—the American Academy of Pediatrics, American Public Health Association, Consumer Healthcare Products Association, March of Dimes, National Association of County and City Health Officials, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine—support both versions of the measure, which incorporate principles that the groups have identified as necessary elements of reform, including eliminating the burdensome rule-making process for changing OTC monographs (FDA-approved recipes) and expanding funding for the Food and Drug Administration through new user fees.