Drug Companies Pay For More Than One-Half of FDA's Drug Review Budget
In 2004, major drug companies paid for 53% of the FDA's drug review budget, and the drug firms are looking to give more in an effort to push the industry's agenda. More likely than not, the drug firms will get their wish. The FDA is one of the very few regulatory bodies that actually haggle with the industries they oversee for contributions to their budget. I can't see how this is not a conflict of interest, with the brunt of the conflict falling on U.S. consumers. How can a regulatory body regulate when its budget is supplied by contributions from the very companies they are to oversee? Indeed, there are already examples of the influence drug firms have over the FDA. In 1997 the FDA reduced the amount of review time for a standard application from 12 to 10 weeks, in response for an increase in the amount of fees taken in from drug companies. Further proof that the FDA is merely a lapdog for the pharmaceutical industry.