Congress moves to free up trapped FDA user fees

The battle over the continuing resolution to fund the federal government for the rest of fiscal 2013 isn't over yet, but Congress is addressing most of the FDA user fees held hostage as the fight continues. AdvaMed issued a statement this week praising Congress' new continuing resolutions to allow the FDA to access user fees paid by the industry. Initially, Congress had only funded the government through March, and that measure only granted access to user fees approved for fiscal 2012. Without resolution, $40 million in new 2013 user fees paid by device companies to help fund the regulatory process would remain in limbo. Over the next few days, Congress must reconcile Senate and House versions of the continuing resolution. But they must also deal with the sequester, the automatic budget cuts that kicked in March 1 and placed $2.5 million in user fees in limbo. Release