The recently unveiled federal budget proposal for 2013 allocates no new money for the US Food and Drug Administration. The proportion of the agency’s budget that comes from user fees (collected from companies that engage in regulated activities) would rise to 44% – assuming Congress votes to reauthorize the agency’s Prescription Drug User Fee and Medical Device User Fee programs, both of which are currently due to expire in 2012. Groups such as Public Citizen question whether FDA can remain objective as more and more of its funding comes from the industries it oversees.
