A subcommittee of the FDA’s Science Board (headed by the talented Dr. Gail Cassell of Eli Lilly & Company) says the agency suffers from a "plethora of inadequacies," including an "appallingly low'' rate of food inspections and a lack of scientists who understand new technologies.
According to a new report issued by the subcommittee, the FDA needs more money, better computer systems, and should be restructured to include a scientific leader.
"Without a substantial increase in resources, the agency is powerless to improve its performance, will fall further behind, and will be unable to meet either the mandates of Congress or the expectations of the American public. This will damage not only the health of the population of the U.S., but also the health of our economy.''
The report describes rapidly developing advances in areas such as genomics, wireless health-care devices and nanotechnology, and says the FDA can't adequately monitor products because it can't keep up with the science. The FDA suffers `"serious scientific deficiencies,'' the report concluded. The subcommittee consulted more than 25 specialists in industry, academics and government
The report blames Congress for requiring the FDA to take on more responsibilities without providing enough funding to hire staff.
Each American pays about 1 1/2 cents a day to fund the FDA, and an increase to 3 cents a day wouldn't "be a great price to pay for the assurance that our food and drug supply is, indeed, the best and safest in the world,'' according to the report.
And that shouldn't be a problem – after all, everybody else seems to want to give the FDA their two cents worth.
According to a new report issued by the subcommittee, the FDA needs more money, better computer systems, and should be restructured to include a scientific leader.
"Without a substantial increase in resources, the agency is powerless to improve its performance, will fall further behind, and will be unable to meet either the mandates of Congress or the expectations of the American public. This will damage not only the health of the population of the U.S., but also the health of our economy.''
The report describes rapidly developing advances in areas such as genomics, wireless health-care devices and nanotechnology, and says the FDA can't adequately monitor products because it can't keep up with the science. The FDA suffers `"serious scientific deficiencies,'' the report concluded. The subcommittee consulted more than 25 specialists in industry, academics and government
The report blames Congress for requiring the FDA to take on more responsibilities without providing enough funding to hire staff.
Each American pays about 1 1/2 cents a day to fund the FDA, and an increase to 3 cents a day wouldn't "be a great price to pay for the assurance that our food and drug supply is, indeed, the best and safest in the world,'' according to the report.
And that shouldn't be a problem – after all, everybody else seems to want to give the FDA their two cents worth.
