Remarks by the Acting Commissioner of Food
and Drugs

Janet Woodcock, MD
May 18, 2021 
Food and Drug Law Institute Annual Conference

Thank you, Daniel [Kracov]. It is a pleasure to join you once again for FDLI’s annual conference. I know we all look forward to meeting in person. The good news is, we’re getting closer.

Last year at this time, our nation faced an uncertain future.

Since then, we’ve made enormous progress in combatting COVID-19. I’m especially proud of the work that the FDA has done.

And yet, thousands of people are still being infected daily, and new variants continue to pose a threat. Most tragically, many are still dying.

It reminds us that we must continue to be safe and vigilant and work to ensure everyone has access to a vaccine and gets vaccinated.

Even as we continue to respond to the pandemic, I believe we are at a critical inflection point—a time to more closely examine our response to this crisis, gauge what has worked, and formulate and implement plans to effectively transition to what comes next.

Today, I will highlight some of the FDA’s accomplishments of the past year, but I also want to discuss how the FDA is using this experience to build for the future.