The FDA’s “Food Police” will be in full force to secure budget funds for food safetyinitiatives for FY 2014 as mandated by congress. More than half of the operating funds will be earmarked for food work. International food inspections will surely be a focus area for the coming year. The inspection goals/FTEs will be set low enough for the field staff to meet or exceed expectations. This again will ensure a steady flow of billions for operating costs. In recent years large chunks of the FDA budget were set for new facilities completion and the dreaded infrastructure technology (IT) upgrades which barely seem to keep up with private industry.
Opioid labeling rules newly penned will assist in identifying and tracking legal drugs, however Internet and backstreet sales will continue to plague the market. Insurance fraud is making it easier for mail-order diversion and out right second hand sales of the legally obtained opioids. So until the insurance scams are tapered this effort will only increase operating cost for the opioid manufacturers.
A medical device tax and new user fees will be required for doing business in our domestic market. It seems that every few years the fee structure increases and becomes more complex. Maybe this is part of the reason our health care cost are always going up exponentially. What will they think of next to add to the user fee list?
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