FDA Layoff Notices Loom if User Fee Deal Stalls Into September

FDA employees could start receiving layoff warnings by early September if House and Senate leaders don’t reach a compromise to reauthorize the fees that help fund the agency by then, the FDA’s head said Thursday.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Robert M. Califf told reporters in an Alliance for Health Policy webinar that the FDA will lack the money to pay employees and the agency’s “public health mission will be injured” without new legislation to replace the current user fee agreement before it expires Sept. 30.

Leaders in Congress are scrambling for a compromise after one of the key negotiators ...