Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.

Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
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Food and Drug Administration

Context & Evidence: Why an Independent FDA?

To meet its vast responsibilities for more than $2.5 trillion in products, the FDA should operate from a structure that best accommodates rigorous, science-based decisionmaking. This White Paper documents the growing demands on the agency and current barriers to regulatory efficiency, and provides supporting evidence for the Commissioners’ consensus recommendation on a two-step pathway to independence.

Video: A Collective Call for FDA Independence

In June 2016, six former Commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration convened at Aspen Ideas: Health (previously Spotlight Health) to talk about the challenges facing the FDA. From that stage, they publicly announced their consensus view that the FDA should be transformed into an independent federal agency.