FDA Commissioner Robert Califf will be questioned by committee members at an investigation of the agency held by the influential U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee. Numerous issues will be examined closely, including the agency's regulation of tobacco and nicotine products.
In a press release, it stated that the hearing "will examine the Oversight Committee’s ongoing inquiries into the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) response to a number of problems, including the regulation of tobacco and nicotine products, over-the-counter decongestants, drug shortages, facility inspections, and the infant formula crisis and food safety."
The hearing will take place on April 11 at 1:00 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast live on YouTube and the committee website.
The FDA's tobacco regulating unit, the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP), was the subject of an investigation that the committee made public last year. Chairman of the Oversight Committee James Comer (R-KY) listed a number of issues at CTP, including undue political interference, in a letter dated March 2023 to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. The majority of these issues were brought up in the 2022 Reagan-Udall Foundation (RUF) assessment of FDA tobacco regulatory methods.
In his letter to Califf, Comer expressed his "deep concerns" that political considerations rather than factual information had impacted CTP's actions. FDA employees' remarks to RUF "reflect such concerns."
The agency's dedication to equitable vaping regulation has also been questioned by other Congressmen. A group of senators from both parties in the United States urged Califf to provide an explanation of the FDA's premarket tobacco application (PMTA) process in December 2023. Out of millions of PMTAs filed, only seven vaping devices have been approved.
