Proposed FY 2015 Funding for FDA 'Falls Far Short' of Agency Needs, Says Group
The $2.5 billion requested for the Food and Drug Administration in the Obama administration’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal “falls far short of what the agency needs to fulfill its responsibilities,” said the Alliance for a Stronger FDA on March 5. The advocacy group, which represents a broad range of nearly 200 non-profits, trade associations and companies, said the 1% increase over FY 2014 levels isn’t nearly enough, and will weaken the agency. “Substantial increases are needed to support FDA’s critical mission,” it said.
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"In this time of continuing deficit reduction pressures, we understand the difficult fiscal environment under which the White House is operating,” said Kasey Thompson of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, one of the alliance’s member groups. "This budget proposal would actually weaken the FDA in certain areas, which we think the American people will regard as unacceptable,” he said. FDA's funding needs to be increased further -- well above the FY 14 level -- to reflect the agency's vast public health responsibilities and continually increasing workload. If the FDA does not have the resources to fulfill its mission, there is no other federal, state or private agency that provides a fallback.”
Under the budget request, funding for food programs would rise by almost 2.5%, said the Alliance for a Stronger FDA in its release. Drug programs would get another 2 percent, it said. But the rest of FDA would see its funding cut by about 1.5 percent, including a loss of $3 million for device programs.