{"id":2484,"date":"2023-09-27T19:03:38","date_gmt":"2023-09-27T19:03:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/?p=2484"},"modified":"2024-09-10T20:46:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10T20:46:57","slug":"tracey-forfa-jd-91-distinguishes-herself-at-fdas-center-for-veterinary-medicine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/tracey-forfa-jd-91-distinguishes-herself-at-fdas-center-for-veterinary-medicine\/","title":{"rendered":"Tracey Forfa, JD ’91, Distinguishes Herself at FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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By Hope Keller<\/span><\/span><\/h4>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\"\"
Tracey Forfa, J.D. \u201991<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Tracey Forfa, J.D. \u201991<\/span><\/strong>, was named the director of the FDA\u2019s Center for Veterinary Medicine<\/a> in February 2023, becoming the first non-veterinarian to hold the position. <\/span>The center regulates food, drugs and medical devices for pets, as well as for animals that produce meat, milk and eggs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

She is in good company at the center, which has been hiring lawyers regularly over the past several years, says Forfa, who has been with the FDA since 1993 and at the center since 2002.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWe have inside jokes that for every veterinarian or veterinary technician we hire, we hire another lawyer,\u201d she says. \u201cBut all kidding aside, this is a good time to be a lawyer heading the center. There\u2019s a lot going on.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The law that gave the FDA its regulatory authority \u2013 the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act of 1938 \u2013 poses one of the greatest challenges to the agency, says Forfa. Designed to establish quality standards for food, drugs, medical devices and cosmetics made in the United States, the law has been amended over the years, but not often enough, she adds.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cWe\u2019re regulating products in 2023 using basically the same fundamental 1938 authorities that we were given by Congress,\u201d Forfa says. \u201cThat is one of the reasons that I believe that my law degree is so foundational, to be able to help move the center into 2023 and beyond.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

One of Forfa\u2019s current priorities is working with Congress on legislation to change the way the center reviews feed additives that address fundamental problems such as climate change.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cUnder our existing authorities, we would have to regulate (feed additives) as a drug product,\u201d Forfa says, explaining that the process would be lengthy. \u201cWe are looking for flexibilities within our existing framework, to be able to bring innovative products to market as quickly as possible, because we see them as the future of animal health and public health.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u2018We have inside jokes that for every veterinarian or veterinary technician we hire, we hire another lawyer.\u2019<\/em><\/h4>


Certain feed additives would reduce the amount of methane that cattle produce during digestion. While cow burps might sound innocuous, they in fact contain a significant amount of methane that contributes to global warming.<\/span>
<\/span><\/p>

\u201c(Congress) in no way ever envisioned this type of product to address this type of problem,\u201d Forfa says of the authorities granted the FDA in 1938.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

She emphasized the center\u2019s commitment to the FDA\u2019s \u201cOne Health\u201d strategy, which focuses on the intersection of human, animal and environmental health.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cSome things we discovered on the animal side impact both human medicine and the environment — certainly the methane reduction is an example of that,\u201d she says.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Another primary concern for Forfa and the Center for Veterinary Medicine is the misuse of xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is increasingly being mixed with street drugs such as fentanyl. The drug, intended for veterinary use, particularly in large animals, can cause gangrenous wounds in human users.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

While the center has mechanisms in place to withdraw an animal drug if safety concerns are raised about its appropriate use, the inappropriate use of xylazine by humans is \u201can anomaly for us,\u201d says Forfa.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt remains a really important drug product for veterinarians, particularly veterinarians who work in the large-animal sector,\u201d she says. \u201cImagine not being able to sedate a 1,000-pound cow who\u2019s trying to kill you as you\u2019re working on it.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

The Center for Veterinary Medicine has joined with the Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to help flag and examine imported shipments of the drug.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

\u201cIt\u2019s an all-government response, from the White House all the way through all of the agencies involved, including local law enforcement,\u201d Forfa says. \u201cWe\u2019re all extremely concerned about the horrific effects that happen when xylazine is combined with fentanyl.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Hope Keller<\/strong> is a writer based in Connecticut.
<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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By Hope Keller Tracey Forfa, J.D. \u201991, was named the director of the FDA\u2019s Center for Veterinary Medicine in February 2023, becoming the first non-veterinarian to hold the position. The center regulates food, drugs and medical devices for pets, as well as for animals that produce meat, milk and eggs.\u00a0 She is in good company […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3596,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3596"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2484"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3426,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484\/revisions\/3426"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/lawmag\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}