A tale of two transparency attempts at FDA.

Abstract

This Article describes and evaluates two elements of the FDA's recent operations implicating information transparency: the Transparency Initiative and a reduction in the agency's FOIA backlog. After discussing the legal context for information disclosure at the FDA and these two transparency attempts, this Article identifies two reasons that the first has fallen short of expectations compared to the second: unlike the reduction in the FOIA backlog, the Transparency Initiative had legal constraints that it did not adequately address, along with political appointee leadership. These principles may be more generally useful for understanding how to stimulate institutional change in administrative agencies.