Journal of the National Cancer Institute Advance Access originally published online on July 10, 2007
JNCI Journal of the National Cancer Institute 2007 99(14):1072-1073; doi:10.1093/jnci/djm071
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
© Oxford University Press 2007.
NEWS |
FDA User Fee Law Poised for Passage in Congress but Not Without Stirring Up Controversy
| The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below. |
The fourth iteration of the 1992 law that allows the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to levy user fees on drug companies contains several reforms that could create a major change in how the agency monitors the safety of new drugs after they enter the market.
Lawmakers are using reauthorization of the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) to overhaul the agency's authorities and responsibilities for ensuring drug safety. The legislation would allow the FDA to collect $393 million in fees annually from the industry starting in 2008. That is up from $305 million this year and includes another $30 million to fund the agency's postmarketing drug safety programs. The bill passed the Senate on May 9. A companion bill has been introduced in the House.
"The resources and additional staffing made possible by the fees charged by the FDA have enabled the agency to review new medicines more efficiently,
The Means, But Not the Will?
First Speed, Now Safety