January 5th, 2009

Reports the Philadelphia Inquirer:

President-elect Barack Obama is prowling for a new head for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which, in the eyes of some outraged Americans, is like hunting for someone to put tainted toothpaste back in its tube.

In the last several years, the agency has lurched from crisis to crisis. Whether the problem was poisonous pet food, sullied toothpaste and blood-thinner from China; food-borne salmonella; or dangerous drugs such as Vioxx, the FDA has appeared to be unprepared at best and compromised by industry at worst.

Critics of the agency, including some of its own scientists, have said it caters more to the pharmaceutical industry than to the public’s safety needs. Some scientists wonder whether it’s even possible to protect everyone in the modern economy, where drugs and food ingredients come from all over the world.

And another thing: The FDA has a budget of only $2 billion to oversee $1 trillion in drugs, medical devices and food. It’s a pittance by Washington standards. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, by contrast, has $8.8 billion.

Visit the Inquirer for an in-depth report on Obama’s search and the problems with the FDA.