From the U.S. Government Accountability Office, www.gao.gov Transcript for: Drug Safety: Improving FDA's Foreign Inspection Program - Director Summary Description: Mary Denigan-Macauley discusses our February 2022 report on the Federal Drug Administration's foreign drug inspection program. The COVID-19 pandemic postponed the majority of the foreign inspections FDA had planned to conduct in 2020 and 2021, resulting in a backlog that could make it more difficult for the agency to ensure the safety and effectiveness of these drugs. We recommended that FDA develop tailored strategies and time frames to recruit and retain investigators for its foreign inspection workforce, which could help address a backlog of inspections.   Related GAO Works: GAO-22-106311. Drug Safety: FDA Should Take Additional Steps to Improve its Foreign Inspection Program Released: February 2022 [ GAO's Mary Denigan-Macauley, Director, Health Care, speaking to the camera ] [ Mary Denigan-Macauley : ] When you take medicine you picked up at a pharmacy or got in the mail, how do you know it's safe? The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of all of the drugs marketed in the US. But over 50% of the manufacturers of these drugs are located overseas, and more than one third of those are in India and China. FDA's ability to oversee this increasingly global drug supply chain has been highlighted on GAO's High Risk List since 2009. And unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges for the agency. Specifically, the pandemic postponed the majority of FDA's planned inspections in 2020 and 2021, resulting in a backlog that could make it more difficult for FDA to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the drugs we take. At the same time, the agency has had continued trouble with fully staffing its foreign inspection workforce. We recommended that FDA develop tailored strategies and time frames to recruit and retain investigators for its foreign inspection workforce, which could also help address the backlog. For more information about this recommendation and others from our report, visit GAO.gov. [ End ] For more info, check out our report GAO-22-104299 at: GAO.gov