An Analysis and Review of the Food and Drug Administration's and National Institute of Health's Websites Essay

For my take home assignment I took a look at the web sites of the Food and Drug Administration (httpwww.fda.gov) and the National Institute of Health (httpwww.nih.gov). The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is a government agency whose job is to regulate food, drugs, medical devices and vaccines. It also regulates Animal Feeds and Drugs, cosmetics and things that emit radiation like cell phones, microwaves and lasers. The NIH is not a government agency like the FDA, for it is part of the Department of the Health and Human Services branch of the government. While the FDA is mostly concerned with regulations of drugs and food the NIH does research to help prevent, detect and treat diseases and disabilities. It does research in its own laboratories and also sponsors research in universities, medical schools, hospitals and other research institutions across the country. Overall I though the web sites were informative with their own strengths and weakness. I found that the NIH web site was more organized and easier to find desired information. It had a search feature which was useful in finding information on the site. It also had clearly labeled headings, making it even more easier to find needed information. The web site however was presented a in very bland fashion and seemed to be targeted at researchers and scientists who usually come for information. The FDA's site on the other hand was presented in a more colorful way and seemed to be directed toward the general public. This maybe because the FDA is in the news quite often and is more well known, while the NIH is little known, except among people in the fields of science and medicine. At the FDA's site there seemed to be more news items and press releases than scientific data. It did have good information about current drugs and even included a small section devoted to kids. The two sites...