A coalition of industry, consumer and patient groups, along with the last three secretaries of the U.S. Health and Human Services department, have joined forces to lobby for more money for the Food and Drug Administration. The lobbying group has named itself the Coalition for a Stronger FDA.
The group was formed just three days after an FDA-commissioned Institute of Medicine report called for "substantially increased resources" in funds and personnel for the agency.
The report asserted that the FDA needs to pay more attention to the safety of drugs once they are already on the market, which would require both increased funding and regulatory authority.
The reports also recommended that new pharmaceutical products should carry a special symbol to warn that not all side effects should be known, and that the FDA should evaluate all safety and effectiveness data for new drugs that come out within five years of their approval.
You may not realize that the majority of funding for the FDA comes from the very companies that it is seeking to monitor and evaluate. This is a classic case of the fox guarding the henhouse.
The FDA has progressively morphed into a mere pawn and instrument of the drug companies. So you should not be surprised this "coalition group" that formed mere days after the Institute of Medicine issued a scathing report calling for changes in the way the FDA regulates drugs is likely another cleverly disguised front to extend the drug industry's influence even further.
It could not be more obvious that additional funding will not repair the problems with the FDA.
Do you really believe that additional funding would cause the FDA to sever its ties with the drug company cartel? Would it really improve drug safety?
They want you to believe it will but don't bet on it. The FDA is far too addicted to the "Users' Fees" it gets from the drug companies, money which makes up more than 53 percent of the their drug review budget.
No, they have a very sweet relationship with the drug industry and that is not going to change anytime soon.
The FDA leadership is so corrupt at this time that you should not put your life and faith in the their hands. They are, for the most part, a compromised and crippled federal entity more interested in helping their real "partners" -- the multinational drug companies -- than their "true" bosses -- the American taxpayers.
Please, please don't risk your money or your life on a paradigm designed to profit from and, at the same time, harm your long-term health. Instead, switch to natural methods that will allow your body to heal itself without the need for the deadly drugs being pushed on you by the drug companies and the FDA.