Something to think hard about …
WASHINGTON — The Food and Drug Administration could compel drug makers to conduct additional clinical trials after it approves their products under an amendment passed by a US House committee.
To speed drug approvals, the FDA frequently defers some clinical trials until after a product is introduced on the market. But companies have failed to complete two-thirds of the post-marketing studies they pledged to conduct for drugs now sold to millions of Americans. Currently, the FDA does not have the authority to force drug makers to finish the trials.
Under the amendment, which was attached to a must-pass appropriations bill, the agency could begin proceedings to stop the sale of specific drugs if promised clinical trials for those products are not done.
