House Committee Calls on FDA to Improve Laboratory Safety

The House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce is calling on FDA to make good on its pledge to improve laboratory safety.

In a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, Committee Chairman Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chairman Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA.) complained that the FDA has yet to formulate a budget request to Congress for an Office of Laboratory Safety or set staffing levels for it.

Asserting that “laboratory safety and security … [is] one of the highest priorities for federal departments and agencies,” the letter asks Califf to justify the agency’s inaction by answering five questions.