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FDA Feeling The Heat
By Evelyn Pringle (about the author) Page 3 of 4 page(s)
The president of Consumers Union, Jim Guest, testified that improvements are needed to prevent future disasters like Vioxx and called for a rule requiring that at least 90% of the members who decide whether a drug should be approved be free of conflicts of interest.
Dr. Steven Nissen, of the Cleveland Clinic, who has served on advisory panels, testified to "a crisis in public confidence in the FDA following an unprecedented series of revelations about drug and device safety" and called the Senate reform bill a "major step forward."
"I served on a 2001 Advisory Panel that recommended a warning label for Vioxx," he told the Senators, "but it took 14 months before the FDA could secure agreement from the company to accept a weakly written warning."
Dr. Nissen also said improvements "in the Advisory Committee process will help to ensure that FDA consultants are less likely to be influenced by financial conflicts of interest."
In 2005, a law was passed that required panel members to make full disclosure of all financial ties to Big Pharma. However, after reviewing the disclosure forms submitted, the FDA is still permitted to grant waivers that allow experts to sit on panels even if they have financial ties to a drug company.
On April 21, 2006, the Boston Globe discussed the practical effects of the law since it was enacted and quoted FDA critics as saying "the new transparency has changed little, and scientists who have conflicts of interest can still guide FDA decision making."
In less than 6 months, the Globe determined, close to 100 waivers had been granted.
Congressman Hinchey is the author of an amendment to the spending bill that funds the FDA, which would ban waivers. "Plain and simple," he says, "if a doctor or scientist has a personal, financial stake in a drug they should not be allowed to sit on an FDA advisory panel and determine whether that drug is safe."
In response to the FDA's renewed push to maintain its ability to grant waivers, on July 24, 2006, Rep Hinchey released a statement stating, "The FDA continues to demonstrate a lack of commitment to ensuring that all of its advisory panels are filled with members who have no conflicts of interest with the drug or device being reviewed."
"Saying that there are not enough potential advisory panel members available without conflicts, as the FDA argues, is an empty claim," he said.
Most disturbing, he said is that the FDA denies only 1% of the waivers requested. "When the FDA is handing out waivers 99 percent of the time," he states, "it is a clear sign that the system is broken."
No doubt in attempt subdue the hornet's brought on by the investigations into the approval of Ketek based on fraudulent studies, in late July 2006, the FDA announced a series of changes it plans to make in the methods used to evaluate clinical trials.
One would require a company to notify the FDA immediately if it believes a researcher has committed fraud during a clinical trial. As it is now, drugs companies are trusted to remove unreliable data and are not required to report any fraudulent activity to the FDA until they actually submit the new drug application.
The agency also says it plans to clarify which adverse events must be reported to the review boards that monitor the studies and standardize the forms used to collect information and revise the rules on how patients may qualify to participate in clinical trials.
The new FDA commissioner was confirmed on December 7, 2006, but critics say the agency is incapable of change under the Bush regime. Rep. Hinchey released a statement stating: "Unfortunately, the Senate's confirmation of Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach represents anything but a fresh start for one of the most troubled agencies in the federal government."
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