FDA Layoffs Could Compromise Safety of Medications Made at Foreign Factories, Inspectors Say

In April , more than 3,500 FDA employees were laid off, a roughly 15% reduction in force.

HHS Secretary Kennedy has since announced that 20% of the cuts will be reversed.

FDA inspectors say the loss of support staff has slowed critical investigations and little relief has materialized.

Inspectors say the ongoing strain of policing an industry spread across 90 countries has exhausted staff.

“I am in utter shock that they don’t support and promote those of us who can do a decent inspection,” one investigator says.

Dozens of employees who handled technology support, facilities, supplies and equipment were dismissed as well.

Even before the layoffs, the FDA ’s investigative force struggled to monitor drug-making factories in countries that include India .