fda.gov

To help consumers sort out information about new drugs FDA has approved since January 1998, FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research offers an on-line index with easy-to-read summaries. By visiting www.fda.gov/cder/consumerinfo/default.htm, you can find the name of a drug's manufacturer, how the drug is administered and what strengths it comes in, patient precautions, and possible side effects observed in clinical trials. Users also can search for drug information by keyword.

Articles, meeting summaries, interviews, and speeches are some of the materials about patients and life-threatening diseases you will find at www.fda.gov/oashi/patrep/pindex.html. For example, the site includes reference materials on understanding clinical trials, how FDA helps cancer patients, what a "treatment IND" is, and how people of color deal with deadly diseases. Also on the site is a section on how patients are represented on FDA advisory committees, which includes guidelines for speakers who wish to participate in committee meetings open to the public.

Until recently, getting hold of the right forms to submit for federal government services could be a tricky business. First, you had to get hold of the right office. Then the forms were mailed or faxed, and you mailed or faxed them back--all somewhat tedious, especially if you were in a hurry for the service. But that was before the Internet. Now, a list of many of the most requested government forms that can be downloaded is available from the University of Memphis Web site. The list includes a link to FDA's on-line forms catalog, which provides forms for many FDA programs. The university's list also has links to dozens of forms from the Internal Revenue Service, the Veterans Administration, the Patent and Trademark Office, the Social Security Administration, and the U.S. Postal Service.

Have you or someone you know had an adverse reaction after taking a dietary supplement such as a vitamin or herbal product? You can report these problems to an on-line monitoring system managed by FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. The system, which collects voluntarily submitted adverse reaction reports, also tracks problems with "special nutritionals" such as infant formulas. FDA officials say the reporting system allows the agency to identify unanticipated safety problems with marketed products and helps determine if further action is needed to preserve public health. To learn more about the Special Nutritionals Adverse Event Monitoring System, or to submit a report, go to www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/aems.html.

Suspect you've been a victim of a consumer scam or other questionable business activity? Do you think a company is misleading in its advertising? You can report these concerns on-line to the Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Response Center. The FTC compiles complaint information to help law enforcement agencies through a database it operates jointly with the National Association of Attorneys General. The FTC site also has more than a dozen helpful publications covering real estate, investments, telemarketing, automobiles, and other consumer information topics.

Table of Contents | How to Subscribe | Back Issues | FDA Home Page