In a sign of what may be the new kind of post-election scrutiny of the Food and Drug Administration, leading members of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform sent a letter Monday to the agency asking whether understaffing at a district office led to oversight problems of drug manufacturing.
The letter, sent by Representative Edolphus Towns of New York, the committee’s current Democratic chairman, and Representative Darrell Issa of California, the ranking Republican, questions the actions of F.D.A. employees in Puerto Rico regarding their supervision of problems with drugs made at plants owned by the McNeil Consumer Healthcare unit of Johnson & Johnson and by GlaxoSmithKline.
The congressmen want the agency to provide by Nov. 17 a list of all manufacturing sites overseen by the F.D.A.’s Puerto Rico office, a list of all inspections conducted by agency inspectors in Puerto Rico over the last 10 years, and related documents.
In addition, the congressmen asked for an update on a recall of Motrin made by the Johnson & Johnson unit in Puerto Rico and F.D.A. actions surrounding that move.
A spokeswoman for the F.D.A. said the agency plans to respond to the inquiry after it receives the letter.
The House committee previously held two hearings related to manufacturing problems at McNeil plants, involving recalls of children’s Tylenol and other medicines.
