Pure Food and Drug Act
The 1906 Act paved the way for the eventual creation of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is generally considered to be that agency's founding date, though the agency existed before the law was passed and was not named FDA until later. "While the Food and Drug act remains a foundational law of the FDA mission, it's not the law that created the FDA. [Initially,] the Bureau of Chemistry (the precursor to the FDA) regulated food safety. In 1927, the Bureau was reorganized into the Food, Drug, and Insecticide Administration and the Bureau of Chemistry and Soils. The FDIA was renamed the FDA in 1930."
History of pharmacy in the United States
Hunsberger cites the founding of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy (PCP) as "the first step forward in the development of a system of pharmaceutical practice in the United States," with the 1821 "meeting of apothecaries...held in Carpenters' Hall" (where the Declaration of Independence had been signed) to set up the first formal college of pharmacy and first pharmacists' association (the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy) in North America the seminal founding event. On March 13, 1821, "Sixty-eight pharmacists signed the Constitution of the first pharmaceutical association in the United States," with the symbolism of the Carpenters' Hall backdrop undeniable: American pharmacy would have a constitution, following in the footsteps of the founding fathers and their constitutional framework. The PCP constitution included a strict code of ethics that would expel anyone from the college who "adulterated" medications or knowingly sold "articles of that character," and provided for a "committee of inspection" to verify the purity, safety and effectiveness of medicines, and a "committee of equity" to arbitrate disputes between member pharmacists.
The college, which was founded as an association to advance the discipline of pharmacy not just a university, quickly became a game-changer: in 1824 they published "carefully determined formulas" for the fabrication of (formerly) "secret-formula" patent medicines previously imported from the UK, an essential step toward self-sufficient pharmaceutical manufacturing in the U.S.