FDA Seeking Early Retirements

The Food and Drug Administration is looking for at least 80 people to take early retirement from the Commissioner's office, according to an internal memo obtained by GoozNews. The cuts are part of an agency-wide effort to cope with budget cutbacks imposed by the Bush administration. Similar early retirement offers have been made to long-time workers in the regulatory office and center for food safety, a source said.

These budget cuts and staff reductions come at a time when the agency is under increasing pressure to beef up its drug safety and clinical trial monitoring systems. Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Senators Kennedy and Enzi calling for such changes will be introduced later this summer.

Yet the Republican majority continues to hack away at the agency's budget, making the FDA ever more dependent on industry user fees. The agency is required to match every dollar spent by industry with one of its own, and all the funds must be spent on evaluating new drugs.

That leaves fewer discretionary dollars for every other function at the FDA. The institutional capabilities lost through these early retirements will be very difficult to replace.