Statement to FDA on Prescription Drug User Fee Act

We believe that your duties are so essential for the health and safety of the American public that they ought to be fully funded out of the general Treasury. If a user fee system is necessary because of the pressures on the budget, then there should be no strings attached to the money— no hoops to jump through to meet industry goals. Comments submitted to the Union of Concerned Scientists by many FDA employees clearly show that the current system is having a corrupting influence and is putting products before American consumers with outstanding safety issues. Therefore, we strongly endorse legislation that has been offered in the past by Congressman Maurice Hinchey that proposes any FDA revenues derived from the regulated industry not be burdened with conditions on their use set by the industry.