FDA Bolsters Agency with Doctors, Scientists

WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday it has hired more than 1,300 professional staffers in a move that officials hope will help the beleaguered agency better protect the public health amid rapid technological and scientific change.

"Every pay period, we have had more than 100 people walking through our doors," said Kimberly Holden, the senior manager directing the special recruitment initiative. "We have had some people who left to go into industry and ended up wanting to come back. The revolving door swings this way every once in a while."

The staffing drive, launched just five months ago, will result in an estimated 10 percent increase in the FDA's work force. Holden said the new hires will provide critical expertise after years of losing valuable medical and scientific people who took industry jobs or went into retirement. The exodus came as the agency struggled to cope with a string of drug and food safety problems that damaged its reputation.

Independent observers said the staffing increase is only a first step, albeit a much needed one.

"This is really just bringing them back to where they were in earlier years," said William Hubbard, a former FDA associate commissioner now leading a lobbying effort for sustained increases in the agency's budget. "It restores losses that they have incurred, but they still have a long way to go to where they can make improvements."

Source: The Associated Press