NEJM Perspectives Look at Problems Faced by FDA

• "Trying Times at the FDA -- The Challenge of Ensuring the Safety of Imported Pharmaceuticals," New England Journal of Medicine: In the NEJM perspective, Stuart Schweitzer of the University of California-Los Angeles School of Public Health discusses challenges FDA has faced in recent years in ensuring the safety of the country's medical devices and drugs, particularly its inability to effectively inspect foreign manufacturing plants. Schweitzer also examines possible ways to improve FDA inspections, including boosting the agency's efficiency through increased federal funding and reconsidering its responsibilities (Schweitzer, NEJM, 4/24).
  
  
• "Playing 'Kick the FDA' -- Risk-Free to Players but Hazardous to Public Health," NEJM: Alastair Wood, managing director of Symphony Capital and a professor of medicine and pharmacology at Cornell University's Weill Medical College, writes that the media and lawmakers have placed too much blame on FDA for failing to properly inspect medications while ignoring the agency's inadequate funding and the responsibilities of manufacturers to ensure the safety of consumer products. According to Wood, legislators have "heaped" more responsibilities on FDA without increasing its budget, and, without increased funding, "the public's health is at stake" (Wood, NEJM, 4/24).