If you took the industy's more strident, conflicted and ideologically motivated critics at face value (Avorn, Wolfe, Nissen, Angell, Kassirer,Relman, Goozner, Consumers Union, Families USA/Soros, etc. )...the FDA is a rubber stamp, user fees are payoffs that turned the agency into a lapdog for instant approvals of every unsafe and ineffective medicine, marketing is just a series of bribes to doctors to prescribe useless drugs when generics are available...and companies could price every new drug at higher and higher prices.
Oh wait, drug approvals are at an all time low and generic drug use is at an all time high.
If this group was right these would be the best of times because they are uncontrolled monopolies with endless power. Of course if this group was right, kids would not be dying from underuse of SSRIs and VA patients would not be dying sooner than seniors in Part D.
But everything has limits and goes through cycles. Science, competitive strength, even the intelligence of the critics. Check that. Some things never change. To paraphrase Fred Allen, every time they open their mouths they subtract from the sum of human understanding.
Oh wait, drug approvals are at an all time low and generic drug use is at an all time high.
If this group was right these would be the best of times because they are uncontrolled monopolies with endless power. Of course if this group was right, kids would not be dying from underuse of SSRIs and VA patients would not be dying sooner than seniors in Part D.
But everything has limits and goes through cycles. Science, competitive strength, even the intelligence of the critics. Check that. Some things never change. To paraphrase Fred Allen, every time they open their mouths they subtract from the sum of human understanding.
