Leaning on user fees at FDA, PTO

The Bush administration's budget proposal for fiscal 2002 continues the decade-long policy of relying on user fees to fund FDA's drugs and biologics product reviews, while dedicating taxpayer money to politically sensitive areas where the agency has recently suffered public relations problems.

In the budget blueprint submitted to Congress last week, the White House is proposing only about $11.5 million in new federal funding for the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) and $22.6 million for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER)...