FDA Inspections: Are Changes On The Horizon? By Kalah Auchincloss, SVP & deputy general counsel, Greenleaf Health, Inc. Almost exactly one year ago, in March 2020, the U.S. FDA announced that it was suspending all foreign and domestic inspections except those it deemed “mission critical.”[1] This unusual move was a response to the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic—an attempt to reduce transmission of the virus and protect both FDA personnel and industry employees. Even as it suspended inspections, the agency assured the public that it had “full confidence in the safety and quality of the products we all use every day and that the FDA will continue to leverage all available authorities to continue to ensure the integrity of the products we regulate.”[2] A year into the pandemic, the FDA is still conducting only limited inspections in the U.S. and evidence has emerged of a significant inspection backlog that could compromise the safety and quality of the U.S. drug supply.