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  1. Center for Veterinary Medicine

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In 1927, the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration, later known as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), was formed. The Agency employed its first veterinarian, Dr. Henry Moskey, to evaluate vitamins and minerals in light of their claimed nutritional and treatment uses. A Veterinary Medical Branch was created in 1953 within the Bureau of Medicine, then part of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (DHEW).

Recognizing the importance of animal health to the welfare of the country, the Secretary of DHEW established the Bureau of Veterinary Medicine (BVM) in 1965. At this time the major units within the Bureau were the Division of Veterinary Medical Review, Division of Veterinary New Drugs, and the Division of Veterinary Research. The number of units within BVM increased to five when the Secretary of DHEW approved a reorganization of BVM in 1970, which established two new divisions—Division of Compliance, and Division of Nutritional Sciences.

Within six years, the burden of increased responsibility and an ever-growing workload necessitated another major reorganization of the Bureau. This reorganization, which went into effect in 1976, divided the activities of the Bureau into four principal areas: (1) Pre-clearance review of applications and petitions for drugs and feed additives; (2) Post-marketing surveillance and compliance activities; (3) Research; and (4) Administration. In 1984, the Bureau of Veterinary Medicine became the Center for Veterinary Medicine (CVM).

Today, CVM is an internationally recognized public health organization with regulatory authority over food, food additives, drugs, and devices for animals.

 
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