On Friday, June 12, 2009, NHF CEO Val Bias was invited to take part in a special “listening session” with Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret A. Hamburg, MD, in Silver Spring, MD.  NHF was one of only 12 national patient health organizations invited to the meeting.  This session provided an opportunity for FDA leaders to share their agency goals and discuss ways of working collaboratively with key patient advocacy organizations in the future.  FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Joshua Sharfstein, MD, and other key members of FDA’s Office of Special Health also attended. 

Representatives of the American Diabetes Association, the Arthritis Foundation, the ALS Association, the Epilepsy Foundation, AIDS treatment organizations and other national patient advocacy groups also met with FDA personnel.