Many Believe FDA, Congress Fail To Ensure Prescription Drug Safety, Survey Finds

April 21, 2007 – 11:23 am | posted in Pharma Industry, Public Health

More than 60% of U.S. adults believe FDA and Congress have failed to ensure prescription drug safety, according to a survey released on Monday by Consumer Reports, CQ HealthBeat reports. The telephone survey, conducted from March 15 through March 18, included responses from 1,026 randomly selected adults. According to the survey, nine in 10 respondents want all clinical trials results made public and want FDA to have the authority to require warning labels and post-market trials of prescription drugs with safety issues. The survey also found:

• 84% of respondents said FDA should ban advertisements for prescription drugs with safety issues, with 59% “strongly agreeing” to such a ban;
• 67% of respondents said they have concerns about the amount of funds FDA receives from the pharmaceutical industry, with 54% “very concerned” about the issue; and
• Six in 10 respondents said physicians and scientists with financial conflicts of interest should not participate on FDA advisory committees.

Jim Guest — CEO of Consumers Union, which publishes Consumer Reports — in a statement said, “The message we’re hearing from consumers couldn’t be clearer — they want strong laws to ensure our prescription drugs are as safe and effective as possible” (CQ HealthBeat, 4/16).

“Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.

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