Califf: The FDA Needs More Funding to Implement Cures Legislation

FDA Commissioner Robert Califf made a forceful call for “adequate” funding from Congress to implement pending biomedical innovation legislation.

Speaking last week at the Food and Drug Law Institute’s annual conference, he explained that unfunded mandates have forced the FDA to divert its already strained resources away from critical activities, such as the review of products.

Califf was referring to the House’s 21st Century Cures Act — which passed in July 2015 — and the Senate’s 19 piecemeal biomedical bills awaiting a floor vote.

The House Appropriations Committee in April passed a bill that would provide the agency with $4.78 billion in funding; an increase of $97.4 million from the current budget but $320 million short of what the agency requested in its budget proposal.

Read the recall request here: www.fdanews.com/05-05-16-FDAWarning.pdf.