Pandemic Forces F.D.A. to Sharply Curtail Drug Company Inspections The steep decline in oversight has stalled a number of new drug applications. The agency says it is trying to protect its employees but critics say inspectors should be considered essential workers and do their jobs. The F.D.A. conducted more than 1,671 inspections of foreign and domestic drug manufacturing facilities in 2019. Last year, that number dropped by more than half, to 742. Credit...Ariana Lindquist/Bloomberg March 9, 2021 The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the Food and Drug Administration to postpone hundreds of drug company inspections, creating an enormous backlog that is delaying new drug approvals and leading the industry to warn of impending shortages of existing medicines.