The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) complained that a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) plan to release preliminary findings about prescription drug side effects on a Drug Watch Web site would lead to confusion and "irrational fears."
The Web site, which is in planning stages for a launch later this year, will have safety information about medications currently under FDA review. Medications or classes of treatments would only be placed on the Web site if the new Drug Safety Oversight Board finds enough evidence of safety concerns to warrant additional research.
PhRMA claimed that the information would be "too vague and preliminary to be of any value," and that the Web site might exceed the FDA's authority, or violate a law that regulates what information can be released by federal agencies.
If this wasn't such a serious issue you would have to laugh at the audacity of the pharmaceutical industry. They actually have the brazen impudence to say that informing you about drug safety concerns could lead to "irrational fears." Of course, if such information had been widely publicized about Vioxx before it hit the market, it could have saved tens of thousands of lives, but apparently that pales before the threat of "irrational fears."
The only thing that is irrational here, folks, is the drug companies' delusional belief that they will continue to get away with their charade for much longer. Just like the Berlin wall that fell, the entire industry will eventually come crumbling down all around them. They simply can't continue; we can't allow their greed to continue to kill and harm millions.
More lives might have been saved if this FDA Web site had been up and running in time to inform the public about Redux, Propulsid, Raxar, Posicor, Lotronex, Duract or Rezulin, but you must be protected from your "irrational fears"!
Maybe it's not a laughing matter after all.
But the industry's stance is, in many ways, ridiculous. No one is going to turn down a genuinely life-saving drug because it might have dangerous side effects. The drugs people are going to stop buying are the ones they don't really need in the first place. The only thing that will be hurt by this Web site is industry's bottom line.
You can find out more information about the FDA Web site here, and you can also use my site to research some of the potential dangers of any drug you are currently taking or considering. Tens of thousands of physicians regularly use this site for that very purpose.
Related Articles:
New FDA Web Site Exposes Drug Risks to PublicCan You Really Trust the FDA to Protect You From Harm?Drug Companies Still Make Bundle Even When They Admit They Lie
New FDA Web Site Exposes Drug Risks to Public
Can You Really Trust the FDA to Protect You From Harm?
Drug Companies Still Make Bundle Even When They Admit They Lie