FDA's scientific base eroded, report says

Written byKerry Grens

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The US linkurl:Food and Drug Administration;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/36885 suffers from "serious scientific deficiencies," potentially compromising the agency's ability to protect the health and safety of consumers, a linkurl:report;http://tinyurl.com/yvnk28 by the FDA's science board has concluded. The agency has had the most trouble regulating areas such as linkurl:systems biology,;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/53421 nanotechnology, and linkurl:regenerative medicine.;http://www.the-scientist.com/article/display/53224 The report, commissioned by the FDA's commissioner linkurl:Andrew von Eschenbach;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/37416/ and released last week, states in bold font: "The FDA cannot fulfill its mission because its scientific base has eroded and its scientific organizational structure is weak." The cause, according to the report, is a linkurl:lack of financial support,;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/52917 inadequate information technology, and too few staff members. The __New York Times__ today linkurl:got no more comment;http://tinyurl.com/2bj5np from the FDA than that the agency "values the evaluation." To solve the "crisis" at the FDA, the board recommends better infrastructure for sharing data, more external collaborations, better staff recruitment, and, of course, more funding. The FDA is holding a public science board advisory committee linkurl:meeting today;http://www.fda.gov/OHRMS/DOCKETS/98fr/E7-20550.pdf (December 3) at the Office of the Commissioner in Rockville, MD.

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Meet the Author

Kerry Grens
Kerry served as The Scientist’s news director until 2021. Before joining The Scientist in 2013, she was a stringer for Reuters Health, the senior health and science reporter at WHYY in Philadelphia, and the health and science reporter at New Hampshire Public Radio. Kerry got her start in journalism as a AAAS Mass Media fellow at KUNC in Colorado. She has a master’s in biological sciences from Stanford University and a biology degree from Loyola University Chicago.
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