SORRY, I’M STILL SAYING “FASTER, PLEASE:” F.D.A. Officials, Hoping to Stave Off Critics, Point to Increased Drug Approvals. “Federal drug officials on Thursday claimed credit for an increase in the approval of new drugs and argued that the results demonstrated the need for legislation to continue financing the current drug approval system. . . . For years, F.D.A. officials said little about the declining number of new drug approvals. When some industry analysts blamed government rules for the slowdown, agency officials instead blamed a decline in high-quality industry applications and a general drought in industry labs. Now that approvals are increasing, however, Dr. Hamburg is claiming some credit by saying that the agency has lowered some approval standards — particularly for cancer drugs — and speeded up many of its reviews.”