Lobbying

"While we mourn his passing, we also celebrate his remarkable legacy, which will continue to shape AHPA and the broader industry for years to come,” AHPA says.

Trade groups say they welcome working with Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on expanding and improving consumer access to OTC drugs and dietary supplements. White House “Department of Government Efficiency Workforce Optimization Initiative” limits filling federal agency vacancies.

Annette Dickinson was CRN’s original staff member when she helped form the group in 1973 and retired in 2005 after serving as president since 2003. CRN’s founders saw a need for "an association that was science-based, that took a rational approach to issues, that did not view regulators as necessarily the devil incarnate.”

AHPA’s significant legislative victories included enactment of Dietary Supplement and Nonprescription Drug Consumer Protection Act in 2006 to establish a serious adverse event reporting law for vitamin, mineral and supplement products.

“I think the Republican Congress is going to slow down all of what's called progress, for lack of a better word, toward having hemp be accessible to folks in all kinds of forms,” says Doug Gansler, former Maryland state AG and chair of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP’s state AG practice.

In the wake of a US presidential election that saw Donald Trump returned to power, the US Association for Accessible Medicines has called for the next administration to take action to help support the generics and biosimilars market.

UK consumer healthcare industry association PAGB is calling on the UK government to explore the Rx-to-OTC switch of at least 25 OTC products over five years, and work with the country's medicines agency to re-evaluate the restrictive criteria for reclassification. 

The US Food and Drug Administration is undergoing seismic leadership changes, from the expected post-election departure of two-term Commissioner Robert Califf to the retirement of longtime Center for Devices and Radiological Health Director Jeff Shuren. What might the new management mean for the medtech industry? Silverman Group President and former FDAer Steve Silverman has some insight.

This Thursday (26 October) the United Nations will discuss whether OTC antimicrobial products should be restricted to prescription-only status by UN member states. In advance of this, we catch up with UK association CEO Michelle Riddalls, to learn about the PAGB’s role in crafting the global consumer healthcare industry’s response.

What’s next for public-private partnership MDIC? According to president and CEO Andy Fish, the group’s work on patient engagement, cybersecurity and more is just getting started.