FDA Bonuses Spending to Draw Scrutiny (AP)

FDA Bonuses Spending to Draw Scrutiny

Tuesday July 17, 2007 5:46 AM

By ANDREW BRIDGES

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Food and Drug Administration is
giving workers more than $8 million in bonuses to keep
them from defecting to pharmaceutical and other regulated
industries, at the same time the agency is being pressed to
spend more on food and drug safety.

The retention bonuses, worth $5,000 or more per employee,
are triple what it paid in 2002 and more than any other
federal agency pays. As recently as 2005, the FDA
accounted for more than 40 percent of the overall $21.6
million the government paid in retention bonuses, according
to FDA and other government records.

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FDA officials say the bonuses are necessary to keep vital
employees from moving to the private sector; congressional
critics say the money would be better spent on improving
safety.

The bonuses are expected to be an issue at a congressional
hearing Tuesday to examine the FDA's efforts to protect
the nation's food supply, as the total nearly matches the
additional amount the agency is spending to strengthen
food safety next year. A spate of high-profile outbreaks of
foodborne illness, including salmonella-tainted snack foods
that sickened dozens of toddlers, has drawn scrutiny from
Congress.

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