FDA
...protective consumer agency was known as the Division of Chemistry. At this point, there were virtually no laws regarding consumer food products except those that were imported from other countries, and only one law protecting Americans from harmful drugs, which was the short-lived Vaccine Act of 1813. Unethical practices would have gone unknown to the public if it were not for Harvey Washington Wiley, who, after taking the position of Chief Chemist in 1883, expanded the Division of Chemistry’s research department, and in the late 1800s, published a ten-part study entitled Foods and Food Adulterants. This study spurred public attention and outrage at the growing problems in the food and drug trade. By the early 1900s, public outcry from more ethical businesses who were failing to compete with businesses that saved money by cheating their customers, along with consumers who were spending money on ineffective and dangerous products, led to the passage of Federal Food and Drugs Act of 1906. This act created regulations that the food and drug industries were to follow, and guidelines by which the Division of Chemistry was to regulate these industries. It was not until 1930 that the Division of Chemistry’s name was changed to the Food and Drug Administration, and over the years it has been transferred to many different departments, most recently in 1980, when it was transferred to the Department of Health and Human Services, where it remains today. Since its creation, the FDA has passed numerous legislations, and has expanded greatly. One such example of this would be the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act of 1938, after it was realized that many of the regulations previously passed did not do enough to protect consumers. This was realized after an anti-bacterial drug, named elixir sulfanilamide initially passed all regulatory tests and was allowed to be sold to consumers. Years later, a liquid form of the medicine came out, which the FDA failed to check, resulting in the death of 107 people who consumed the liquid. With the act of 1938, new regulations were created to give more information to ...