When I see "the FDA has stated..." I automatically think it is probably a corrupt conclusion bought by some powerplayer to maximize their own profit instead of having to do with whether the statement is true or not. I've always viewed FDA as basically a council of a bunch of power players on boards of Big Capitalism companies like Pepsi that make decisions based on control and market share rather than health.
but I see posts now about how trump attacking FDA equals bad. So is my view of FDA wrong? Are they noncorrupt? Are they a necessary evil? Should they be thrown in a volcano and remade?
I was told - but I never fact checked it - that the FDA actually has less than 10 employees. Everyone else is an outside contractor. And if it is true, I do think it needs better organization.
If an agency that has to protect all consumers is organized this way, that's really worrisome.
You can search for FDA employees here (the US Government has a lot of transparency around employees). Also, it wouldn't surprise me to find a lot of contractors in scientific and technical roles in the FDA, the FedGov uses a lot of contractors. I actually spent time, at a site, first as a contractor and then as a direct employee. The only thing that materially changed was whether or not my badge said "contractor" on it. I literally sat in the same seat and did the same job. Pay was pretty close, but the benefits were way better. The line between contractor and govie was pretty blury and more of a running joke than a real wall. Maybe that was just the departments I worked for, but I suspect my experience was more typical.
Fascinating. Thanks for the information! :) Now I know way more than ever wanted :D
That is a fascinating rumor, but not at all true. Good on you for being skeptical. Otherwise, I personally know all FDA employees plus a mysterious eleventh.
The person was an actual contractor agent of the organization, doing inspections and such flying state to state - that's why I gave it more credibility than heresay. But look how far it got me. Lol
It's possible it was a joke, similar to the "Britain only has 12 actors" one... I would believe the FDA having more contractors than direct employees, but definitely more than ten
At least according to Wikipedia, as of 2022, they had 18,000 employees