Our greatest asset is our children. As parents, we strive to provide them with the safest and healthiest environment possible. We spend a great deal of time researching the schools they will attend, including the daycare centers where we leave our toddlers for the better part of five days a week. We visit the schools, inspect the premises inside and out, meet with and talk to the teachers, and contact other parents with similar concerns. We read the brochures and pamphlets, and search the internet for information that will help us determine if a particular school will meet the needs of our children and meet our parental standards for care and safety. Does the school or daycare center have trained and qualified personnel to respond properly to health care emergencies? Has the facility thoroughly investigated the background information on teachers, aides, or others who are going to be around our little ones? The sex scandals that have headlined the news in past years have made all parents aware of the importance of daycare centers conducting proper and in-depth background checks on each of their employees.

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In case you missed it during the 2008 presidential primary news blizzard of the past few months, which has consumed the front page of newspapers nationwide, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has once again failed to protect the American public from harm caused by pharmaceutical drugs and devices. Choosing to protect the outrageous profits of the major drug manufacturers over the health and welfare of each of us, and after failing to gain the support of Congress in their quest to do so, the FDA went behind Congress’s back to President Bush to propose new rules concerning labeling requirements on drugs. In addition to the fact that important side effect information would be less likely to reach consumers under the proposed rule, the change would also permit companies to update their drug and device labels with new safety information without waiting for FDA approval.

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