It's hard to open a newspaper these days without reading a story about risky drugs with deadly side effects or salmonella-contaminated food. It's no surprise, then, that the FDA has come under a great deal of scrutiny of late. But simply blaming the agency for all the recent food and drug scandals doesn't take into account other complicating factors that have weakened government oversight in recent years.
On Friday, the AP ran a story about the food industry lobby killing a plan that would have required them to "maintain electronic tracking records that could be reviewed easily during a crisis to search for an outbreak's source," because it would have been too costly. Of course, the business losses from the current outbreak are estimated to be about $250 million. As the AP wrote, the recent outbreak of food borne illness in the U.S. "is teaching the food industry the truth of the adage, 'Be careful what you wish for because you might get it.'"
Also, while the FDA tends to get a lot of negative press when something it was supposed to regulate goes wrong, the blame can only go so far. After all, the agency is responsible for A LOT. Here's the FDA's mission statement:
The FDA is responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of human and veterinary drugs, biological products, medical devices, our nation's food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation. The FDA is also responsible for advancing the public health by helping to speed innovations that make medicines and foods more effective, safer, and more affordable; and helping the public get the accurate, science-based information they need to use medicines and foods to improve their health.
It's not only the responsibility of the FDA to ensure that everything you have ever put in your body is safe, effective, and innovative; they're supposed to educate you about it too. That's quite the mission. And while money doesn't guarantee effectiveness, one would expect that the FDA would be fully funded so that it could fulfill its mission. But that's just not the case.
In February 2008, a panel of experts recommended that the FDA's budget be at least doubled by 2013. Until those budget woes are effectively addressed, efforts to clean up the FDA's failures will result in resources being shifted to the scandal of the day, leaving the other FDA responsibilities vulnerable.
As POGO's Staff Scientist, Dr. Ned Feder, wrote in "Food and Drug Safety on the Cheap: It Can't Be Done," which was recently published in The Hill, without adequate FDA funding:
"...we should face the consequences squarely. Incidents like those caused by salmonella, heparin, and Vioxx will happen again. The FDA's perennial shortcomings will continue to claim human victims."
(Bonus: here's a video of FDA Commissioner, Andrew C. von Eschenbach, M.D., getting grilled about Heparin, the scandal that preceded the salmonella outbreak. It's worth your time, trust me):
-- Jake Wiens
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