WP,pg1: Many FDA Scientists Had Drug Concerns, 2002 Survey Shows

[DeepModem Mom]

Many FDA Scientists Had Drug Concerns, 2002 Survey Shows

By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 16, 2004; Page A01


Almost one-fifth of the Food and Drug Administration scientists surveyed two years ago as part of an official review said they had been pressured to recommend approval of a new drug despite reservations about its safety, effectiveness or quality.

The survey of almost 400 scientists also found that a majority had significant doubts about the adequacy of federal programs to monitor prescription drugs once they are on the market, and that more than a third were not particularly confident of the agency's ability to assess the safety of a drug.

The results of the survey, conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services' inspector general, appear to support some portions of the controversial Senate testimony last month by FDA safety officer David J. Graham. The 20-year agency veteran told senators that the FDA was unable to keep some unsafe drugs off the market, and that scientists who dissented about drug safety and effectiveness were sometimes pressured and intimidated.

Graham's testimony, at a hearing into the sudden withdrawal from the market of the arthritis drug Vioxx, put a spotlight on the FDA's safety and management record. Top FDA officials later criticized Graham's testimony as inaccurate and unscientific, but the survey results indicate that some other agency scientists share similar views....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A3135-2004Dec15.html?sub=AR

[bullimiami]

1. isnt this the same god damned fda that told us

how they were going to protect us from the dangerous canadian drugs?

everything under this government has become corrupt, those agencies that had been on the edge of corruption have been allowed to become corrupted futher.

the FDA is now a total tool for the betterment and protection of the US drug industry. where in the past an honest employee, manager or whistleblower could bring consequences now they would probably be fired and the criminals given a promotion.

[Muzzle Tough]

2. Yes it is.

Somehow, a drug that is manufactured in the U.S. and is perfectly safe, magically becomes dangerous when it goes on vacation to Canada and then returns home. Must have picked up some kind of a magic virus while up there!

It's magic, I tells ya!

[DeepModem Mom]

3. I think the Bush cabal does nothing that does not profit...

its peers and political contributors -- that is its goal in governing. War in Iraq, missile system, satellite system, Social Security "reform," environmental policy, regulatory policy, on and on and on.

[enough]

4. kick