On trial…
The latest ruling from the FDA regarding the testing of psychiatric drugs is a disappointment. But the decision should come as no surprise to those familiar with the department’s operations. The agency has never been the watchdog it was established to be and consumers have always suffered because of it.
But never has their siding with Big Pharma been as blatant as this. Last October, a proposal to extend the duration of pre-approval testing of psychiatric drugs to six months was defeated thanks to pressure from Merck, Wyeth, and Eli Lilly.
Their argument is that half of all patients switch psychiatric medications after three months of treatment anyway, so why bother with long-term testing of these drugs. Frankly that logic doesn’t hold water. Basically, they’re saying that the patients who take these drugs on along-term basis don’t constitute a large enough consumer group to bother with the expense and inconvenience of a longer analysis. And when you boil it down a bit further, you get to their real message-that their profit margins are more important to them than the safety of the millions of people worldwide who take their medications on a daily basis.
Although the FDA tried to do the right thing — on this occasion — byproposing an expansion of the time required to examine issues surrounding longer exposure to these drugs, they quickly caved in to the pharmaceutical industry. We can’t let their lack of backbone be the last word on this subject. Write the FDA and tell them you want these drugs adequately tested. Send your letters t The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 5600 Fishers Lane, Rockville MD 20857-0001.
Let them no, in no uncertain terms, that this is one bitter pill that we just plain refuse to swallow.
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What are…rheumatoid nodules?
The inflammation that accompanies rheumatoid arthritis may be responsible for painless nodules that develop under the skin of patients with the disease. They develop on the bones or joints of the forearms, ankles, or fingers and usually last only a few months. The nodules can fluctuate in size and can be fixed or movable.
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Editorial Director
