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The Abstract
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> By Torie Ludwin, Arnold Ventures
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Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and its federal advisory committees have been the subject of scrutiny over the FDA’s drug approval process. These committees, made of external experts, advise the FDA based on evidence about whether to approve a drug or device.
The FDA, however, isn’t required to agree with the advisory committee’s ruling. When the FDA decided in 2021 to authorize an Alzheimer’s drug despite recommendations against approval from the advisory committee, it drew national headlines.
Instances like this have led both policymakers and the public to question how the FDA is using its advisory committees, and whether those committees are functioning as well as they could be.
Yesterday, the FDA held a public virtual listening session to solicit feedback on their use of and processes for its advisory committee system.
It should come as no surprise that at Arnold Ventures, we’re especially partial to following the evidence as well as increasing transparency. We hope this listening session proves fruitful in the FDA’s efforts to optimize its advisory committee’s role in science-based decisions.
Learn about our work in drug clinical trials>
Read about our recent panel on strengthening the FDA advisory committee process>
Learn about what the FDA does> |
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Q&A on Poverty and the Justice System
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By Thomas Hanna, public affairs and communications manager, criminal justice
Arnold Ventures is partnering with the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities (LEO) at the University of Notre Dame to advance rigorous research at the intersection of criminal justice and poverty. As part of this project, AV and LEO will identify nonprofit organizations and government agencies that are interested in conducting evaluations of their programs, and LEO will pair them with its extensive network of high-quality researchers.
Read our Q&A with Heather Reynolds, the Michael L. Smith managing director of LEO, on building evidence on what works to address poverty and justice system involvement>
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A New Generation of Criminal Justice Researchers
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(Image credit: SSRC)
By Thomas Hanna, public affairs and communications manager, criminal justice
What’s Happening: In parts three and four of our series profiling the Social Science Research Council’s (SSRC) new Criminal Justice Innovation Fellows, Britte van Tiem, Ph.D., discusses her research on prison policies and Michael Topper, Ph.D. candidate, talks about how data and evidence can improve policing.
As part of the fellowship, van Tiem will continue to study the Scandinavian-style prison unit in Pennsylvania and consider its longer-term effects. Additionally, she will embark on a new project exploring the role of social ties to family and friends while people are in prison.
Topper plans to dive deeper into research on the accuracy of ShotSpotter technology, as well as studying the impact on police-involved killings on officer hiring and the effect of longer shifts on police use of force.
Read our profiles of Britte van Tiem and Michael Topper>
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Criminal Justice
- In Reason, C.J. Ciaramella laments how some states are reversing course on previously enacted and successful bipartisan criminal justice reforms, driving up economic and social costs for their residents.
- St. Louis Public Radio reports on allegations that health care services in Missouri prisons are rapidly deteriorating which, according to Missouri Prison Reform, is contributing to an increased number of deaths and serious injuries.
Health Care
- The Washington Post highlights California’s efforts to keep health care costs down by establishing a five-year target for spending growth. (free link)
- Earlier this week, the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) released its June 2024 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP, which proposes ways to improve care for dual-eligible people and to improve Medicaid financing transparency.
Public Finance
- Former Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director and current Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Mercatus Center Keith Hall outlines the barriers to the inclusion of returns on investment in program integrity spending in CBO’s scoring of legislation.
- The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) highlights new cost estimates of extending the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) slated to expire at the end of 2025; if unaltered, these extensions are now estimated to cost $4 trillion through 2034, which is roughly double the 2018 estimate of $1.2 trillion.
- Bloomberg Tax reporters Michael J. Bologna and Chris Cioffi write about renewed efforts at the IRS to examine potential abuse of a provision that allows taxpayers who move to Puerto Rico to exempt the income, dividends, interest, and capital gains they earn while there from federal taxation.
- In National Review, Dominic Pino discusses a report from Scott Winship of the American Enterprise Institute that examines trends in worker pay and productivity; it also challenges dominant narratives that assert pay and productivity are no longer linked.
Infrastructure
- In Politico, see what six governors from across the country are doing to ease the affordable housing crisis, from prioritizing construction of smaller-footprint homes to expanded protections for renters.
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On Tuesday, June 25, R Street is hosting a discussion on patent policy at Top of the Hill Banquet and Conference Center in Washington, D.C., from 12-1 p.m. EST, entitled, "Balancing Innovation and Accessibility: Reforming Patent Policy for Patient Benefit." Register here. |
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Juneteenth is next week, a federal holiday that celebrates the ending of slavery in the United States. The National Museum of African American History and Culture explains the historic legacy of the name and date. Axios offers a roundup of shows to watch on Black history, and the T.H. Chan School of Public Health at Harvard presents a video interview with activist Opal Lee, the "grandmother of Juneteenth" who worked to make this day nationally recognized as a holiday.
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