But...that might cut into profits we need for marketing. Uh, research.
Quote of note:
The idea of an independent drug safety office was also endorsed this week by the editors of The Journal of the American Medical Association, who said it was unreasonable to expect the same agency that approves drugs "also be committed to actively seek evidence to prove itself wrong." Similar proposals have been floated in the past, usually after a high-profile controversy involving a particular drug.
Idea of Drug Safety Office Is Already Hitting Snags
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 - Despite calls from medical experts and a prominent Republican senator for an independent office to monitor drug safety, the idea, prompted by the Food and Drug Administration's handling of the painkiller Vioxx, is already running into obstacles on Capitol Hill.
"Another layer of bureaucracy at the F.D.A. is probably the last thing we need," Senator Judd Gregg, the New Hampshire Republican and chairman of the Senate health committee, said Wednesday.
The remark sets the stage for a potential conflict between two powerful Republican committee chairmen: Mr. Gregg, who is stepping down from the health committee because of term limits but is expected to become chairman of the Budget Committee in January, and Senator Charles E. Grassley, the Iowa Republican and Finance Committee chairman, who backs legislation to strengthen the F.D.A.'s drug safety arm.
Mr. Grassley, who convened a Senate hearing on Vioxx last week, said in an interview Wednesday that he expected to have a bill ready as early as February, but did not yet have particulars. He said he expected that passing legislation would be difficult because of resistance from the pharmaceutical industry and the food and drug agency.
Okay, seriously…what kind of "resistance" can the pharmaceutical industry put up? Can someone spell it out for me? How about the FDA…what kind of "resistance" can they effectively mount? I mean, they just flipped the whole damn C.I.A. by Presidential fiat.
