From the pages of the New York Times:
Letter
Warning Labels on Drugs
June 10, 2011
“Side Effects? These Drugs Have a Few” (Week in Review, June 5) rightly ridiculed the growing number of warning labels on prescription drugs. But it’s the Food and Drug Administration’s job to promote the safe and effective use of medications and medical technology.
Unfortunately, the current liability system encourages well-financed tort lawyers to view new product warnings or withdrawal decisions as signals to file lawsuits in hopes of securing a quick payday. Such irresponsible litigation doesn’t make America’s health care system safer — it just helps a small number of lawyers get rich.
PETER PITTS
New York, June 6, 2011
The writer is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a former F.D.A. associate commissioner.
