FDA is spared from the worst spending cuts for the remainder of fiscal 2011, but congressional Democrats warn of the potential for deep cuts ahead.

The agency is appropriated $3.7 billion, $418 million over fiscal 2010 funding, but far below the $4.4 billion President Obama requested for fiscal 2012.

Congressional leaders and the president agreed to the compromise at the last minute before an impending government shutdown April 8. The bill, H.R. 1473, passed the House April 14 by a vote of 260 to 167 and the Senate by a vote of 81 to 19 the same day.

The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition fared similarly – increases over fiscal 2010 funding, but well below the president's 2012 request.

CDER will receive $957 million, a 9% increase over fiscal 2010. Obama requested $1.15 billion for the center for fiscal 2012.

Congress allotted $837 million for CFSAN, a 6.9% increase over fiscal 2010, but below the $1.04 billion the chief executive requested for fiscal 2012.

The totals in H.R. 1473 cover the entire fiscal year, so the amounts agencies receive will equal the appropriation minus what they have spent since the start of the fiscal year, Oct. 1.

The Department of Health and Human Services is still working out how it will spend its appropriations, a spokesman said. Although FDA was spared from cuts, other parts of the department took a deep hit.

2012 Looks Murkier

Although FDA has increased resources for the remainder of fiscal 2011, a proposal House Republicans introduced for fiscal 2012 would reduce non-defense discretionary spending to pre-2008 levels (Also see "Capitol Hill In Brief" - Pink Sheet, 11 April, 2011., Capitol Hill In Brief).

FDA has received big appropriations increases in recent years. A move to pre-2008 levels would slash the agency's budget nearly 20%, or $600 million, Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee said at an April 13 hearing on an FDA import system.

"GAO report after GAO report tells us that improving the safety of our food and drugs requires that we provide FDA with more funding and resources," said California Rep. Henry Waxman, ranking Energy and Commerce member. "Yet we are doing exactly the opposite."

At the hearing, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said budget cuts would hamper agency efforts, including reducing the amount of time it takes for a drug to be approved, a topic on which Republican members of the subcommittee questioned her extensively.

By Carolyn B. Phenicie

FDA Gets Boost In Fiscal 2011 Compromise, Cuts Loom For 2012

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