Pressed By OIG, FDA Seeks More Staff To Tackle E-Nicotine Backlog

FDA is seeking permission from the Office of Personnel Management to directly hire staff to fill vacancies in its tobacco center and is crafting a plan to work through a backlog of tens of thousands of premarket applications for electronic nicotine products after the HHS Office of Inspector General raised concerns the applications were piling up. The HHS OIG says it recommended FDA seek help from OPM in an audit of the tobacco center’s premarket tobacco applications backlog published Nov...