FDA Bonuses Spending to Draw Scrutiny

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FDA Bonuses Spending to Draw Scrutiny

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.

The retention bonuses are only part of an overall financial incentive program, including recruitment and relocation bonuses paid its employees, that has grown sharply at FDA in recent years. In 2002, the agency gave out just $3.2 million in bonuses worth $5,000 or more. That grew to $9.5 million last year.

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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