FCC, FDA Partner Up

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) held a joint meeting Monday to announce “an unprecedented FCC, FDA partnership,” and the importance of wireless technology being used to improve healthcare and streamlined inter-agency communication.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that he hopes government can work smartly with industry to “create conditions that encourage the development of cutting edge and life saving technology,” such as the human genome project. Genachowski said that bringing broadband and wireless technology to healthcare would reduce costs, help diagnose diseases faster and, ultimately, save lives.

FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg emphasized that the “benefits of wireless technology to healthcare [are] very clear.”  Hamburg was very complementary of the new FCC/FDA partnership, saying that, coupled with broadband and wireless technology, it could “shift the paradigm, and will eventually change the face of medicine forever.”

The FCC and FDA will have another joint meeting Tuesday, July 27, to further discuss life-saving wireless medical technology.