FDA plans to launch hiring frenzy
Under increasing scrutiny, agency to fill 1,300 jobs
WASHINGTON - The Food and Drug Administration yesterday said it will hire more than 1,300 biologists, chemists, medical officers, and others over the next several months.
The hiring news comes as consumer advocates and lawmakers blast the agency for lax oversight, the drug industry pushes for swifter approval of their products, and medical experts decry the lack of regulatory resources.
Congress has been pressuring the agency, which regulates drugs, medical devices, food, cosmetics, and other products, to improve its operations, strengthen its inspections, and hire more specialists.
"Each month there is a delay in bringing critical staff on board impairs the agency's ability to fulfill this mission," John Dyer, the agency's deputy commissioner for operations and chief operating officer, said in a release.
The agency, which currently has more than 10,000 employees, wants to fill more than 600 new positions and backfill more than 700 others, tripling the number hired between 2005 and 2007. The goal is to do this by October.
Thirty percent of regular FDA staffers are already eligible to retire, as are nearly half of FDA managers.
FDA spokesman Christopher Kelly said 400 new positions will focus on drug review, while another 150 will be hired to investigate and inspect drugs, food, and other related items.
The agency will rely on user fees from pharmaceutical companies to pay for all the drug review jobs and 100 other positions. Appropriated funds will fund the remainder.
The drug industry has paid user fees to the FDA since the 1990s with the goal of speeding up drug approvals.
Companies on average spend almost 15 years and $1 billion to get a new drug to market, according to the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Over the past two years, the FDA has been battered by safety problems, including chemical-laced pet food and contaminated blood thinning drugs. Its panel of outside advisers recently said the FDA needs $375 million next year to start repairing its understaffed, outdated food and drug safety operations. The Senate recently passed a resolution supporting the increase.
But, at a recent Senate hearing, FDA commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach said the agency would be unable to allocate that increased funding in one year because of the time-consuming process of recruiting and training hundreds of new employees.
The FDA said it was granted special authority by the Office of Personnel Management to expedite the hiring, which is done when a severe shortage of candidates exists.
The agency - which is also seeking consumer safety officers, nurse consultants, mathematical statisticians, epidemiologists, pharmacologists, pharmacists, and veterinary medical officers - will hold job fairs nationwide.
Most positions are in the Washington area, but some will be overseas and in other parts of the country.
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