FDA Requests Increase for Inspections Budget

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has requested nearly $2.4 billion in funding to improve food inspection, and to improve safety and modernize the review of medical devices and drugs, as part of the President's 2009 budget. The funds would represent a 5.7% increase over the FDA's budget for the current fiscal year. More than $42 million of the additional funds would be spent expanding the workforce and other resources devoted to policing food-production facilities in the United States and abroad. “This budget enables us to continue development of the staff and programs necessary to safeguard the food we eat and improve the safety and development of drugs, vaccines, devices, and other medical products,” FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach said in a statement last week.