Former FDA Official Calls for Increased FDA Nanotech Authority

By Tim Cahill:

The April 20, 2007 edition of FDA Week reports that the former deputy commissioner in the FDA’s policy office, Michael Taylor, repeated his call for Congress to grant FDA enhanced regulatory authority with respect to products that utilize nanotechnology, particularly cosmetics, dietary supplements, and foods.

Mr. Taylor believes that FDA should have the authority to force companies to disclose information about the nanotechnology they use in these products so the agency can better monitor the associated risks. Mr. Taylor made this assertion while speaking at a Food and Drug Law Institute conference on April 12th, and he initially raised this issue in a report he wrote last October for the Wilson Center’s Project on Nanotechnology entitled "Regulating the Products of Nanotechnology: Does FDA Have the Tools It Needs?"