Children's Health Defense By
Although Americans may not realize it, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decisions loom large in their everyday lives — one-fifth of every dollar a U.S. consumer spends goes to a product that the FDA regulates.
However, it is questionable whether consumer safety or the pocketbook concerns of the average patient drive much of the FDA’s decision-making.
As a recent report by Kaiser Health News (KHN) pointed out, nearly half (47%) of the FDA’s 2022 budget came from pharmaceutical industry “user fees” — representing “two-thirds of the drug regulation budget, and the work of at least 40% of the FDA’s 18,000 employees.”
The FDA brags that the user fees, along with additional mechanisms at its disposal, merely help expedite drug development and review.
