The Nation - News from Sept. 14, 1989

The Food and Drug Administration’s 80-person generic-drug office will more than double its staff starting next month to investigate allegations of wrongdoing, lax manufacturing and other problems plaguing the scandal-torn generic-drug industry, FDA Commissioner Frank Young said. Young said he plans to “significantly” beef up the agency’s staff in other areas as well. In an interview with New York Newsday, the longtime FDA commissioner also said that, contrary to some published reports hinting at his departure, he plans to remain in his job to tackle his agency’s problems. Chief among various crises at the FDA, Young said, was a lack of staff needed to cope with an avalanche of new applications for generic drugs.