Iowa PIRG : Help make our medicines safe

By Meshawn Ayala, Iowa PIRG Citizen Outreach Director

Recent headlines have questioned the safety of GlaxoSmithKline's blockbuster diabetes drug, Avandia, which may raise the risk of heart attacks by 43%. Unfortunately, this is not the first time the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved dangerous and deadly prescription drugs. Vioxx, Paxil, and Ketek are other examples.

USA Today recently stated, "The FDA's drug safety procedures cry out for overhaul."

The good news is the House will consider drug safety legislation this week that will reform the FDA and refocus the Agency on its original mission of ensuring that Americans receive safe medicines.

You can help by taking action now!  Just click on the link or paste it into your browser

Then, ask your friends and family to help too by forwarding this e-mail to them.


Background

After the Senate passed a watered-down prescription drug safety bill in May, we learned that the FDA-approved diabetes drug, Avandia, may raise patients' heart attack risk by 43%.
 
For more information see this USA Today article

Avanida, taken by seven million patients, has been on the market for eight years, yet we are just now learning about its safety problems.  Drug makers are supposed to do post-market safety studies but they routinely fail to do them and the FDA does nothing.   

The Avandia story is all too familiar. When Merck, the makers of the arthritis drug Vioxx, first learned that their drug could cause serious health problems including heart attack and stroke, they could have told doctors and their patients. They didn't. When GlaxoSmithKline, makers of the antidepressant Paxil, learned that it was linked to an increased risk of suicidal behavior in children, they could have sounded the alarm. They didn't.

These companies had the opportunity to do the right thing by giving doctors and patients the information they needed to make safe and informed medical decisions. They consciously chose not to tell the public the whole truth.

The problem is clear and there is bi-partisan agreement in Washington that something needs to be done. The pharmaceutical industry can't, and has proven that it won't, police itself. Lawmakers must reform the Food and Drug Administration so that it focuses on its original mission of ensuring that our medicines are safe.

The House is considering drug safety legislation this week and must take action to reform and refocus the FDA on its original mission of ensuring that American consumers receive safe medicines.

The House bill should require that more FDA resources be allocated towards drug safety.  The majority--as much as 90%--of the FDA's budget for drug evaluation and research is spent on expediting the approval of new drugs.  This is a short-sighted and dangerous policy.

The House bill should also require the FDA to publicly post the results of most clinical trials so researchers, doctors and patients can fully weigh the risks and benefits of various medications.
 
You can help by taking action now!  Just click on the link below or paste it into your browser:
https://www.uspirg.org/action/health-care/safe?id4=ES

Then, ask your friends and family to help too by forwarding this e-mail to them.

Sincerely,

Meshawn Ayala
Iowa PIRG Citizen Outreach Director
MeshawnA@iowapirg.org
http://www.IowaPIRG.org

P.S.  Thanks again for your support.  Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family and friends.