The deficit reduction plan facing Washington lawmakers could derail the FDA's newly approved user fee program, thereby also derailing the agency's plan to speed up drug reviews. The new user fee programs, which are slated to collect more money from branded--and, for the first time, generic drugmakers--as well as medical device makers, can't be collected unless the agency also gets a certain level of funding from lawmakers, an FDA spokesperson acknowledges to Bloomberg, a figure determined by a formula. If the automatic budget cuts go forward, the FDA is slated to have its budget automatically reduced 8%, or about $200 million next year. It is not clear whether that is enough to keep the FDA from starting to collect fees from drug and devicemakers. Story