Resources for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

An Overwhelmed FDA

www.courant.com

A federal study of the Food and Drug Administration reveals an agency so understaffed and poorly equipped that it's not even close to meeting the challenge of ensuring the safety and health of Americans in a global economy.

A painkiller pulled from the market, unsafe medical devices, contaminated spinach and imported pet foods laced with toxic ingredients are among the signs that our national system for regulating products isn't up to the task. A recent report by the Government Accountability Office made that finding official.

Over the past 14 years, as the flow of products into this country swelled to a flood, Congress passed more than 100 laws clarifying or expanding the FDA's duties. Yet the agency lost 1,311 employees and nearly $300 million in appropriations (adjusted for inflation), according to the GAO.

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