Henry Miller | Dec 7, 1997 | 4 min read
Congress has lost a stunning opportunity to reform the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The authorization for the agency's critical "user fees"-approximately $100 million paid annually by regulated industry to help FDA expedite the approval of new medicines-expired on October 1. The need for another five-year reauthorization provided a strong incentive for the Clinton administration to accept meaningful reforms. Characteristically, however, the Congress settled for a half-baked compromise di