During a debate with then-President Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan famously asked Americans if they were better off than they were four years previously. It worked for Reagan, so we’re going to try a variation of it here.

Is the Food and Drug administration (FDA) better off than it was four or five years ago?

Another full year has passed with the FDA’s continuing resolutions, however, there’s no clear budget, which makes it four or five years in a row. The FDA did get a budget boost for fiscal year 2011, but that will change with this year’s planned lower amount.

How has the FDA done this year with respect to inspections in all program areas? Does it really deserve lower funds for conducting fewer inspections? The 2011 FDA metrics show the number of inspection going down annually across the board. This lower trend is continuing to drop even as the FDA has more worker bees on staff.

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