FDA: No money for inspections?

Posted Apr 23rd 2008 3:10PM by Douglas McIntyre
Filed under: Bad News, Products and Services, Consumer Experience, Politics

Most Americans don't want to be poisoned by medications or components used to make medications which come from overseas. Imports from China come to mind.

Over the last month, the government has disclosed that over 80 people in the US have died from tainted Heparin, a blood thinner. So far, the most likely cause is problems with a basic ingredient for the drug which is made in China.

Now word comes that for just $70 million, inspections could be much better and more widespread. That is $70 million dollars which could save lives and protect consumers from bad drugs. Only $70 million.

According to The Wall Street Journal the FDA "would need about $15 million to inspect about 700 facilities in China alone." That seems like a very modest investment.

Underfunding an agency like the FDA is a very bad idea. Its ability to inspect drug facilities seem to be essential to the health and well-being of taxpayers, and the two alternatives are much less desirable.

The first is to do very few inspections and let drugs with problems come into the US. That way the government can find out if the ingredients aren't OK when people start to die. The other option is to have the companies who make the drugs handle the inspections. How many firms want to take on those costs? How many can afford it?

Congress needs to give the FDA a few more bucks.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Tags: FDA, Heparin

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

4-23-2008 @ 4:57PM

winslow said...

We can thank the Bush administration for cut-backs in this agancy. I had a friend working with the EPA 8 yrs ago and he had told me how agencies were being gutted at the time.