Lack of Funding at FDA May Jeopardize Public Health

A subcommittee of the Science Board, an FDA advisory panel, issued a report that says what FDA observers have probably gathered for a while: that FDA lacks enough funds to perform its mission, and American lives are at risk as a result. The report says the agency suffers "serious scientific deficiencies," reports Bloomberg News. It says the agency needs more money, better computer systems, and a restructuring at the top to include a scientific leader.One place to start would be to move FDA's appropriation out of the Agriculture group and into where the group that covers the rest of the Department of Health and Human Services. This archaic structure dates back to the earliest days of food and drug regulation, when HHS didn't exist and the office that became FDA operated out of the Agriculture Department. But under the current system, the members of Congress who have oversight of the agency are not the ones who decide its appropriation. This results in a lot of saber-rattling about the agency's deficiencies, but not a lot of action when it comes to budgeting to fix them.