Upping the ante
Despite all its "hard work" the FDA keeps finding itself in the hot seat, approving drug after drug that later turns out to be dangerous -- and downright lethal in many cases. To remedy that situation, the powers that be in the Administration whipped up a new draft legislation full of proposals that will supposedly "improve food and drug safety in the United States." The problem is, when you take a look at those proposals, it becomes painfully clear that they have way more to do with adding yet another layer to the FDA's already thickly lined pockets than they do with protecting you and me from harmful substances. For example, the draft legislation calls for all U.S. food manufacturers and all international food manufacturers exporting food to the U.S. to pay $2000 per facility per year to register with the FDA. The FDA estimates that this will bring in $600,000,000 per year, which will more than double its current kickbacks -- I mean, "food safety budget." These "registration fees" will also extend to drug companies and medical device manufacturers. So where does the increased safety come in, you might wonder? Well, in return for all the cash these companies will be forking over, the FDA has promised to inspect food plants every four years, instead of once a decade, as it does now. Drug manufacturing facilities will be inspected every two years. And topping off these "security measures," the draft legislation would also give the FDA "the power to order food and drug recalls." Perhaps I've been living under a rock I wasn't aware of, but doesn't the FDA already have that power? And couldn't they easily step-up their inspection process without an extra $600+ million dollars per year? I suppose no one likes to do extra work without extra pay, but when that "extra work" means saving the lives of millions of people, you'd think a little selflessness might come into play at some point. Then again, this is the government we're talking about. | 
