A new analysis of our country’s Food and Drug Administration published in Science shows that the number of compliance and enforcement actions has “plummeted” during Donald Trump’s White House residency. According to the analysis, the number of “warning letters” sent out by the FDA—a tool used to put companies on notice to fix compliance issues—has dropped by one-third this past year. That’s bad. What is worse is that last year’s number was down from the previous year before that.
Initial inspection actions, which tend to trigger the warning letter, are also down by half since the Obama administration. These actions by the FDA include everything from food actions to medical device safety alerts. The FDA is an important and vital regulatory body charged with keeping Americans safe. Former Obama FDA executive Peter Lurie is quoted in the study as saying that “Those who think the Trump administration has not succeeded in its deregulatory efforts ought to look at these data.”
The problem with deregulation like this is that Americans pay for it with their standards of living, and sometimes their lives. According to The Guardian, the FDA emailed a statement explaining that these numbers don’t tell the full story of all the amazing work the Trump administration’s doing. “Our use of any one enforcement tool may fluctuate year to year based on a number of factors, including the FDA’s assessment of the violations uncovered during the course of inspections, along with additional product monitoring efforts.” They say that they have been skipping the letters and making everybody safe in secret ways you cannot quantify with numbers and facts.
This is not surprising. The Republican Party and the Trump administration’s main focus has been on breaking the already strained governmental agencies tasked with protecting Americans from pollution, war, and health issues.