Dr. Schilsky on the Impact of Sequestration on the FDA

Richard L. Schilsky, MD, Chief of Hematology/Oncology in the Department of Medicine and Deputy Director of the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, discusses the impact that sequestration had on the FDA.

In addition to drug shortages, sequestration has recently begun to impact the FDA and other government industries in other ways. The FDA has encountered problems with staffing and sending representatives to scientific meetings.

Schilsky says that an FDA official informed him that the administration used to send 30-40 officials to the American Society of Clinical Oncology Meeting, but only sent three in 2013. This can have a negative impact as the physicians responsible for determining what drugs go to the market cannot even attend meetings to hear data about various drugs.