Senate Committee Passes Kennedy's FDA Budget Increase Amendment

Washington, DC (Mar. 13)-The US Senate passed an amendment to the fiscal year (FY) 2009 budget bill that will increase the amount allotted to the US Food and Drug Administration by $71 million, bringing the agency’s total FY 2009 budget increase to $375 million. Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D–MA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, proposed the amendment to the Senate Budget Committee’s increase of $304 million to include an additional $71 million.

In a summary of the amendment posted on his website, Kennedy cited FDA’s insufficient funds, outdated information technology systems, and the need for inspections of foreign food and drug facilities as reasons for the budget increase.

“When American families go to the grocery store, they shouldn’t have to worry about the safety of the food they buy,” Kennedy said on his website. “When they are prescribed a drug, they shouldn’t have to worry that a contaminant in the drug might kill them. They ought to be able to count on FDA to stand guard for them, use the latest and best science to protect them, and to do what’s needed to detect dangerous products.”