| ■ Task Force to Study Body Parts Safety | 06.09.01 |
| Recent human tissue scandals have prompted the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to form a task force on human cell and tissue safety that will assess the effectiveness of regulations that took effect in 2005. The task force's mandate will include a review of recent reports that some companies are not adhering to federal requirements for tissue recovery. For example, a now-defunct New Jersey company was accused of harvesting body parts without consent. The Human Tissue Task Force (HTTF) will be led by senior FDA officials from the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) and the Office of Regulatory Affairs. "The primary goal of the new task force is to identify whether any additional steps are needed to further protect the public health while assuring the availability of safe products," Dr. Jesse Goodman, CBER director, said in a prepared statement. Within the next three months, the task force will develop an action plan and, where necessary, propose changes to current policies. It will also identify the resources needed to support the plan and how to quickly implement it. ----- YahooHealth |