The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's enforcement of national food and drug laws lapsed sharply in the first five years of the George W. Bush administration, a top House Democrat alleges.
June 29, 2006 (Press Release) --
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's enforcement of national food and drug laws lapsed sharply in the first five years of the George W. Bush administration, a top House Democrat alleges.
An investigation by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) found the number of FDA warning letters sent to drug and medical device companies dropped 54 percent in 2005 from five years earlier, according to an analysis of the study by The New York Times.
Seizures of mislabeled, defective, or dangerous products fell 44 percent over the span, the inquiry found. And enforcement actions over medical devices fell 65 percent. This was not because companies were in greater compliance with government regulations, Waxman's probe concluded, but because top FDA officials increasingly overruled subordinates' desire to enforce regulations, the newspaper said.
Reaction to the investigation was mixed, the Times reported. "I doubt that it makes a significant difference in the safety of drugs or other products," the newspaper quoted Jack Calfee, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, as saying.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, noted that the FDA receives some $380 million a year from drug companies and device makers. "The public is getting the kind of FDA that the industry is paying for them to get," he said.
Source: http://www.msn.com/
An investigation by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) found the number of FDA warning letters sent to drug and medical device companies dropped 54 percent in 2005 from five years earlier, according to an analysis of the study by The New York Times.
Seizures of mislabeled, defective, or dangerous products fell 44 percent over the span, the inquiry found. And enforcement actions over medical devices fell 65 percent. This was not because companies were in greater compliance with government regulations, Waxman's probe concluded, but because top FDA officials increasingly overruled subordinates' desire to enforce regulations, the newspaper said.
Reaction to the investigation was mixed, the Times reported. "I doubt that it makes a significant difference in the safety of drugs or other products," the newspaper quoted Jack Calfee, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, as saying.
Dr. Sidney Wolfe, director of Public Citizen's Health Research Group, noted that the FDA receives some $380 million a year from drug companies and device makers. "The public is getting the kind of FDA that the industry is paying for them to get," he said.
Source: http://www.msn.com/
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