FDA in Need of Money; Giving 8.9 Million in Bonuses

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The FDA is giving its workers more than 8 million dollars in bonuses at a time where the agency is hard pressed than to spend more on food and drug safety.

According to Pharmalot, “the retention bonuses, worth $5,000 or more per employee, are triple what was paid in 2002 and are more than any other federal agency pays. As recently as 2005, the FDA accounted for more than 40 percent of the overall $21.6 million the government paid in retention bonuses, according to FDA and other government records reviewed by the news service.”

“A spate of high-profile outbreaks of food borne illness, including salmonella-tainted snack foods that sickened dozens of toddlers, has drawn scrutiny from Congress. FDA food safety center employees receive just a fraction of the bonuses - $265,000 overall last year. Instead, employees in the drugs office, where the agency reviews new drugs seeking federal approval, claim the vast majority, or nearly $5.8 million in 2006” said the Associated Press.

It seems that the FDA is most generous with its drug reviewers. The drug reviewers often defect to drug makers, and in some recent years the FDA would lose as many as one in five reviewers. The FDA has had a hard time of late competing with the private sector to keep their employees. The extra bonus keeps employees long enough to train their replacement or hire someone from the outside.

A long term solution should be sought out by the FDA instead of just putting a band-aid on the problem. The revolving door at the FDA is sacrificing both money and safety.

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