Fact Check: Can Trump Really Speed Up FDA Approvals?
“Our slow and burdensome approval process at the Food and Drug Administration keeps too many advances, like the one that saved Megan's life, from reaching those in need,” President Trump said, speaking of a young woman living with Pompe Disease who was in the audience. "If we slash the restraints, not just at the FDA, but across our government, then we will be blessed with far more miracles like Megan."
The Facts: Former FDA officials tell NBC News that the process has already been streamlined, and can't get much faster.
"Every administration for the last 40 years has talked about speeding up drug approval," Dr. David Kessler, who headed the FDA in the 1990s, told NBC News this month. "The reality is that we're the fastest in the world. If you get sick … chances are if you live in the United States, you are going to have access to a drug first. It's going to be approved first in the United States.
