Public Affairs Specialists

by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Nervous, yet eager to make her appearance, Cynthia Leggett awaited her turn in front of the television cameras. Had she known she would soon be sharing the stage with a 500-pound lion, she might have been a little less eager.

It was 1974 and Leggett, an FDA public affairs specialist, was about to give a live interview on WSB-TV in Atlanta. She knew her colleagues would be watching as she spoke about the FDA's role in regulating cosmetic products.

Once on the stage, Leggett began to confidently answer her interviewer's questions. But soon she said something that neither she nor anyone else in the audience was prepared for: "There's a lion in the back of the studio."

Shortly after Leggett's announcement, the lion walked in front of the camera and slowly laid down just a few feet from her. Leggett remained calm. The interviewer, however, jumped up on his chair and screamed. The show went to a commercial break while the lion, part of a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus promotion, was retrieved by his apologetic trainer.

"I've got to finish this interview," said Leggett. "I've got a message to get out." The interviewer allowed Leggett to proceed, and she finished her talk on cosmetic safety without further interruption.

Not every day is filled with drama for the FDA's public affairs specialists (PASs) located throughout the United States and in Puerto Rico. But, like Leggett, these health educators are dedicated to delivering the FDA's messages to the public — messages to help them make informed and responsible health decisions.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of this elite team of more than 40 professionals. Today's PASs, like their predecessors, serve as key links between consumers and the agency whose mission it is to protect them. Their job is to tell consumers — as well as industry, academia, the health community, and the local media — about FDA-regulated products and related heath issues.

"PASs have to take highly technical, scientific material, figure out what it means, and then explain it to the outside world," says Leggett, now a PAS at the FDA's headquarters in Rockville, Md.

Last year, FDA PASs reached more than 1 million people through 2,300 outreach and educational programs and 450 workshops, conferences, and meetings. All told, the team responded to over 10,000 inquiries in 2001.

Along with educating consumers, the PASs take the pulse of the public, reporting consumer concerns to agency management. Through this feedback, future FDA programs and messages can be better targeted and agency decisions can be responsive to shifting public health needs.

Breaking New Ground

On Nov. 9, 1952, FDA Commissioner Charles Crawford announced the appointment of the first 16 part-time public affairs specialists, then called "consumer consultants." Ironically, a controversy over white bread was a catalyst for hiring these consultants, says Suzanne White Junod, Ph.D., an FDA historian. Following World War II, the FDA held open hearings to establish standards for white bread. A vocal coalition of consumers and academics alike criticized the FDA's proposal that white bread should be made with wheat flour, arguing that soy flour was more nutritious and should be America's standard bread ingredient.

"FDA officials came to realize that the agency needed a means both of keeping abreast of the newest consumer concerns and of explaining the agency's position to consumers directly," says Junod. The consumer consultants became that means. These 16 pioneers, all women, were highly regarded as home economists, dieticians, or nutritionists. Some held high positions in the educational field; others were homemakers who were active in civic affairs and had wide responsibilities in women's organizations.

Paid $20 per day, the consumer consultants worked part time up to four days per month. They were expected to forge relationships with key consumer and community groups to determine public attitudes and concerns. Their first task was to circulate 400 questionnaires at meetings of different organizations to determine consumer preferences in the canning and labeling of tuna. These preferences, along with accounts of food poisoning, misleading labels, deceptive packaging, and other product complaints, were reported back to FDA headquarters. Some of the consultants were brought to Washington, D.C., to testify on consumer needs at food standards hearings.

Based on the FDA philosophy that informed consumers need less protection by the government, a two-way communication soon evolved. In addition to reporting consumer views, the consultants educated the public on FDA-regulated products.

Lorena Meyers of Kansas City, Mo., one of the original 16 part-time consultants, frequently gave speeches on seized and fraudulent products to community organizations. "I was given a few seized products for show-and-tell," says Meyers. One such product was a foam rubber mask that was worn after dipping in buttermilk, cucumber juice, or rainwater, supposedly to make wrinkles vanish.

The consumer consultants enjoyed a reputation in their communities for providing good, solid facts. "The job was exciting and I loved it," says Meyers, adding that a consumer approached her after one of her speeches and said, "I didn't know anybody in the government knew as much as you did!"

About the Author

www.fda.gov
FDA is A United States government body that oversees medical devices, including contact lenses, intraocular lenses, excimer lasers and eyedrops. In the US, these products must be approved by the FDA before they can be marketed.