The FDA is looking for Congressional approval to assess more than $87 million in new drug company fees so it can hire up a new group of regulators to help manage the agency's post-approval supervision of drugs. That would bring the total amount raised by the prescription drug user fee to close to $400 million. The agency says it's time to modernize, with more supervision for television advertising as well as safety. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) said the money was a step in the right direction but that the FDA really needs to be reformed in order to tackle drug safety appropriately. Senator Grassley has become an untiring critic of the FDA, but his proposals aren't always acted on.
- see that the FDA has to say on the request
- read the report on the regulatory move from the Miami Herald