Eshoo Releases OMB Response to FDA User Fee Inquiry

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and author of the FDA SOS Act, released the following statement with the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) response to her inquiry into sequestered Food and Drug Administration (FDA) user fees:

“OMB’s response confirmed my worst fear about what’s happening to sequestered FDA user fees. The $85 million taken from the agency this past fiscal year is in fact stagnating in a government bank account, and all future FDA user fee cuts scheduled under sequestration are destined for the same unless Congress says otherwise.

“Sequestration was intended to reduce public spending, not private dollars that companies agreed to pay in order to expedite the approval of safe and effective medicines. This reaffirms the need to pass legislation that exempts from sequestration the private money FDA collects in user fees so that they may be used by the agency in full for their intended use.”

A copy of the letter from OMB to Rep. Eshoo can be found here.

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