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Review not kind to FDA
By Assocaited Press
Published December 1, 2007
WASHINGTON - A loss of scientific expertise at the Food and Drug Administration is threatening American lives, advisers to the embattled consumer protection agency conclude in a report released Friday. Food safety in particular is in crisis, concludes the nearly yearlong review by scientists from leading universities and industries the FDA regulates. Scary headlines from recent years - heart-damaging drug side effects, deadly E. coli in spinach, pets dead from chemically spiked food, toxic toothpaste - have triggered growing questions about the FDA's ability to safeguard the public. The new report is the latest in a list of outside reviews to conclude the cash-strapped FDA has trouble keeping pace with the $1-trillion worth of consumer goods it regulates. FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach requested that the agency's Science Board, his own outside advisers, investigate the problems. The Science Board subcommittee given the task was blunt: "In contrast to previous reviews that warned crises would arise if funding issues were not addressed, recent events and our findings indicate that some of those crises are now realities and American lives are at risk." The Science Board will debate the new report at a meeting Monday.
[Last modified December 1, 2007, 01:17:03]
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