Resources for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

FDA Chief Is in Budget Bind

online.wsj.com

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach is under fire from an array of critics who say his agency isn't up to the job of regulating more than a fifth of the consumer goods sold in America. Now, Dr. von Eschenbach says the critics have a point: The agency needs more money than the Bush administration has proposed, and it requires a revamped organization to better oversee drug safety and other issues.

The FDA's leader, in an unusual public departure from Bush administration policy, says in an interview that he requested more than the 2.95% increase in overall agency appropriations proposed in the president's 2009 budget, though he declines to discuss specific figures. An outside advisory panel yesterday suggested the agency needs about 150% added to its appropriated base budget, phased in over five years, to cope with challenges such as inspecting a rising tide of imports.

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