FDA Needs More Inspectors to Monitor Foreign Firms, Official Says


More inspectors and a comprehensive computer database are needed to help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration improve its monitoring of foreign-made drugs and drug ingredients entering the United States, an agency official told U.S. lawmakers Wednesday.

Due to limited resources, the FDA each year inspects only about 10 percent (300) of foreign facilities that ship drugs and drug ingredients to the United States, said Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the Associated Press reported.

28 February 2008

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