House passes $373 million FDA budget boost

July 9, 2009 by MassDevice staff

Federal watchdog would get $3 billion for fiscal year 2010; Center for Devices and Radiological Health gets $350 million.

The U.S. House of Representatives gave the Food and Drug Administration a significant boost, upping its budget by $373 million for 2010.

In a 266-to-160 vote on the 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Act, House Democrats fulfilled President Barack Obama requests and then some — the $2.99 billion appropriation is about a 14 percent increase over the $2.6 billion budget estimate for 2009.

Although the total budget is slightly less than the $3.04 billion Obama requested in May, in some instances the House surpassed the president's funding requests for specific programs.

For example, in a move that garnered support from the medical device industry, the House exceeded the president's $315 million ask for the Center for Devices and Radiological Health, approving $349 million — 24 percent more than last year's estimated $281 million budget.

The largest increase goes toward improving food safety. The Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition would get a more than $134 million increase, to roughly $783 million, in line with Obama's May request.

Other appropriations include:

• $873 million for the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research
• $305 million for the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research
• $156 million for the Center for Veterinary Medicine

Though the budget made it through a Senate committee, it has yet to make it to the floor for a full vote.