It’s that time of year again: the annual regulatory budget ask for federal agencies. Despite a year of public frustration with the way it handled vaccine approvals and hand sanitizers, the Food and Drug Administration is looking for more cash. And with COVID-19 becoming less pressing, we have a chance to look at some of the agency’s other goals and challenges. There’s much to be skeptical of, along with several potential public health game-changers.
The FDA is seeking $97 million in additional funds for food safety programs. The request for an 8 percent increase begins with two alarming statistics: First, an estimated 48 million foodborne illnesses occur every year. Second, an estimated 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths result.
Okay, these figures should not be taken lightly. But they would be more alarming if the FDA didn’t report the exact same figures every single year since 2011 — and the numbers are even older than that. The Centers for Disease Control, which provided them, simply updated a faulty methodology in 2011 of the original estimate done over 35 years ago. In their justification, FDA analysts describe trying to bend the curve down, but it isn’t a curve, or even a straight line. It’s one number, and not a very good one at that.
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