As if the FDA's weekly bludgeoning at the hands of Congress is not enough, there is this news:
Congressman Bart Stupak informs that 28 senior FDA executives took in a combined $1 million in bonuses last year. To me, this news is obscene. Clearly the FDA is a weak guardian when it comes to the safety of drugs and food. Yet, with this news, you would think that perhaps the entire system has gone mad.
Bonuses for FDA bureaucrats? Yep. Look at these examples:
$48,000 in a cash award and retention bonus went to an associate commissioner whose plan to overhaul FDA field labs was rejected by Congress as poorly thought-out.
$41,000 went to the director of the office of criminal investigations, pushing his total income to enforce one statute to $208,000 - more than the director of the FBI makes.
What's most galling? CBS News notes that "The person who was hired to reform the bonus system received the biggest bonus, $58,000."
Nearly 25% of the $35 million in bonuses the FDA handed out last year went to bureaucrats, not technical experts.
For more go here.
