{{Use Australian English, date=October 2016
The Australian Drug Evaluation Committee or ADEC, was a
committee
A committee or commission is a body of one or more persons subordinate to a deliberative assembly. A committee is not itself considered to be a form of assembly. Usually, the assembly sends matters into a committee as a way to explore them more ...
that provided independent scientific advice to the
Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...
regarding therapeutic
drugs
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalat ...
. The committee was originally formed in 1963 and more recently authorised under the ''Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 (Cth)'' as part of the
Therapeutic Goods Administration
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) is the medicine and therapeutic regulatory agency of the Australian Government. As part of the Department of Health (Australia), Department of Health and Aged Care, the TGA regulates the quality, suppl ...
(TGA). In 2010, ADEC was replaced by th Advisory Committee on Prescription Medicines (ACPM)
ADEC provided advice to the Minister for Health and Ageing and the Secretary of the Department of Health on:
*quality, risk-benefit, effectiveness and accessibility of drugs referred to ADEC for evaluation
*medical and scientific evaluations of applications for registration of new drugs
An important role of ADEC was the classification of drugs in Australia into pregnancy categories.
The two main subcommittees of ADEC which were responsible for specific aspects of drug regulation in Australia:
*the
Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee
The Adverse Drug Reactions Advisory Committee or ADRAC was a subcommittee of the Australian Drug Evaluation Committee (ADEC) which monitored the safety of medicines in Australia. ADRAC was replaced by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medi ...
(ADRAC) (replaced in 2010 by the separate Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medicines, ACSOM);
*the Pharmaceutical Subcommittee – which made recommendations to ADEC on the
pharmaceutical
A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy ( pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...
pharmacokinetics
Pharmacokinetics (from Ancient Greek ''pharmakon'' "drug" and ''kinetikos'' "moving, putting in motion"; see chemical kinetics), sometimes abbreviated as PK, is a branch of pharmacology dedicated to determining the fate of substances administered ...
, etc.) of drugs proposed for registration (replaced by the pharmaceutical subcommittee of the ACPM).
Food and Drug Administration
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...