Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the middle of the week. Congratulations on making it this far, and remember there are only a few more days until the weekend arrives. So keep plugging away. After all, what are the alternatives? While you ponder the possibilities, we invite you to join us for a delightful cup of stimulation. Our choice today is caramel apple, a sweet treat. By all means, please feel free to join us. Your neurons may thank you. Meanwhile, we have assembled the latest list of items of interest to help you get started on your day, which we hope will be meaningful and productive. And of course, do keep in touch. The inbox is open and eager to receive all sorts of secrets. …
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration commissioner would like to get rid of voting at the end of advisory committee meetings “as much as possible,” STAT reports. “The most important thing to me about the advisory committees is that the purpose is not to take a vote on the approval of a product,” says FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. The voting is “a habit, it’s not a requirement, and it’s not very useful. I’d like more advisory committees to be about the thinking about the field and the intervention that’s being assessed, not so much the approval decision. That’s an FDA decision, not an advisory committee decision.”
