STAT+: Crucial FDA drug reviews expected to be slowed by job cuts
A former top FDA official said it’s only a matter of time before the chaos at the agency starts to impact drug reviews.
WASHINGTON — The workers who review drugs and devices and inspect manufacturing plans were protected when the Trump administration fired thousands of Food and Drug Administration employees.
The idea was to preserve some of the FDA’s most important functions. But drug reviews are likely to be affected, anyway, more than a dozen current and recently departed FDA employees told STAT. The people requested anonymity to protect against retaliation from the administration.
Peter Stein, who was removed last week from his position as director of the Office of New Drugs, likened the HHS layoffs to an out-of-the-know person turning off machines in a factory because they didn’t look important.
