The FDA’s $7 billion bureaucratic black box is fueling black markets

The Food and Drug Administration is too often an unaccountable $7 billion bureaucratic black box that burdens taxpayers and leaves businesses in the dark.

Despite some recent encouraging news about marketing authorizations of reduced-risk products, a September 2026 report from the Government Accountability Office shows that much work remains to be done. The report reveals that, from 2018 to 2025, the FDA took an average of 507 days to complete its review of tobacco product applications. Even worse, despite receiving billions in taxpayer dollars and industry user fees, the agency’s internal data-tracking systems are so deeply broken that the FDA cannot even monitor whether it is meeting its own scientific review deadlines.