Just how badly does the Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt want that extra $275 million for the FDA? Not enough, according to a letter US Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, who accuses Leavitt of a maneuver that could cause a delay of up to nine months before the FDA sees any additional funding.

You may recall Congress chastised FDA commish Andy von Eschenach for months for refusing to say how much - if any - extra money was needed to combat tainted food and drugs. Last month, Andy took the unusual step of writing Specter a letter asking for $275 million in extra funding. Then, two evenings ago, Mike and Andy hastily call a press conference to say the White House added the funds to its budget for the fiscal year starting October 1.

This morning, however, Leavitt was quoted in The New York Times saying “I would like to once again strongly urge Congress to act quickly to enhance the safety of food and medical products.” This infuriated Specter to no end. The timing of the request, he wrote yesterday in a letter to Leavitt, threatens to undermine his effort to include $275 million in an appropriations bill being negotiated.

“I am really surprised by your comments quoted in The New York Times urging Congress to act quickly when the administration is drastically hindering necessary immediate relief by delaying the funding for 8 or 9 months,” Specter scrawled in the margin of the letter. “The FDA needs this money now to save lives.” Here is the letter.

Hat tip to the WSJ Health blog