U.S. Food and Drug Administration
FDA Consumer magazine
May-June 2001
Table of Contents
Simply put, the Food and Drug Administration's mission is to promote and protect the public health by helping safe and effective products reach the marketplace in a timely way, and by monitoring products for safety during their entire life cycle.
The staff of FDA Consumer draws on the expertise of hundreds of FDA scientists, investigators and administrators to uncover the often fascinating stories behind the agency's regulatory actions--actions that affect the lives of virtually every American. And we try to tell them in an easy-to-understand and even entertaining way.
Some may appear as a 3,000-word feature, complete with photos, tables and other graphics to enhance their presentation. Others are presented as brief updates on FDA-related activities.
Permanent fixtures in the magazine include stories about field investigators who uncover wrongdoing in locations ranging from the docks of U.S. ports to manufacturing plants of industries regulated by the FDA. Many of these "Investigators' Reports" read like the detective tales they are.
In the months ahead, we'll continue to give you a mix of timely, important stories aimed at a consumer audience. We'll augment them with informational graphics, photos and more color to help readers better understand the FDA's public health mission.
In this issue, our cover story titled "Emerging Trends in Medical Device Technology: Home Is Where the Heart Monitor Is" examines the budding revolution of home health care. Together, aging baby boomers and huge gains in technology have been a catalyst for products that promise to help older people take more responsibility for their health while helping to curb rising health-care costs.
We also take a look at a dilemma faced by many women who become pregnant, those who may become pregnant, and the physicians who care for them. Trying to decide whether to take a prescribed medication during pregnancy can be a difficult choice for a mother-to-be. And experts say that while they've learned a lot about successful drug treatment during pregnancy, their knowledge is incomplete in many areas.
If you've bought any pet food lately, you know that many of the bags and cans lining pet store shelves sport labels that read like those aimed at humans. These days, it's not unusual to see a sack of dog food with a label saying it's "low fat" or "Adult Formula." We'll tell you what these labels mean and how to find a nutritious food for your pet.
Ever had chickenpox? If so, you may develop shingles at some point in your life. Caused by a strain of herpes virus, shingles (herpes zoster) is characterized by painful inflammation of certain nerve fibers and the eruption of blister-like sores. In this issue, we bring you the latest research on shingles and potential treatments.
Raymond Formanek Jr.
Interim Editor
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