Can Trump Really Speed Approval of Covid Treatments?
The FDA can grant emergency-use authorizations, or E.U.A.s, to authorize the sale of unapproved medical products during a public health or national security emergency. The reason for this is because it is a rigorous process to get a medical product approved by the FDA — there are typically "clinical trials, inspections of manufacturing facilities and detailed statistical analyses," and more. During a true emergency, it would be almost impossible for the FDA to approve a medical product fast enough to be effective. However, E.U.A.s, up until COVID-19, were "a formerly obscure corner of regulatory law." Although they were used during disease outbreaks like the H1N1 flu in 2009 and Zika in 2016, over 300 E.U.A.s have been authorized for COVID. This article talks about the E.U.A that President Trump is aiming to have granted soon, and why people fear that E.U.A.s are being influenced by political interference.
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