Washington, D.C. — In a new letter to Government Accountability Office Comptroller General Gene Dodaro, House Energy and Commerce Committee Republicans have requested an examination of the structure of laboratory safety programs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 

The letter was signed by Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), Subcommittee on Health Chair Brett Guthrie (R-KY), and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith (R-VA). 

KEY LETTER EXCERPT: 

This committee remains concerned about the effectiveness of the oversight HHS and its agencies provide to the laboratories they own and operate. In addition to numerous GAO recommendations that remain unimplemented by the FDA, both the CDC and the FDA recently announced organizational reforms to their laboratory safety and security functions, and it is not clear whether these changes will strengthen oversight or create new undue risk. The FDA has, for example, reorganized several of its laboratories such that they now fall within the Office of the Chief Scientist. This raises potential independence concerns, as the FDA’s laboratory safety and security functions report to the same office. 

BACKGROUND: 

• The mission of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is to enhance the health and well-being of all Americans.  
• As such, HHS is most directly involved in leading public health preparedness and response efforts, as well as associated research.  
• However, past safety lapses involving the CDC, the FDA, and the NIH have been the result of multiple breakdowns in compliance with established policies coupled with inadequate oversight.  
• For example, in July 2014, boxes containing decades-old vials of smallpox and other hazardous biological agents were found in a storage space of an FDA laboratory on the NIH’s campus. GAO and other reviews resulted in numerous findings and recommendations to strengthen laboratory safety and security, which led to changes to the way HHS and its agencies oversee their laboratories.  
• Likewise, GAO and other reviews have highlighted the importance of laboratory science and security in the handling of federal select agents and other dangerous pathogens in research. 

CLICK HERE to read the full letter.